With the number of companies entering the cloud gaming industry, Amazon is looking to set itself apart with rather high ambitions. While Amazon has been rather secretive about its entrance into cloud gaming, the company is apparently hiring for a “new initiative” that is reportedly asking for applicants who are familiar with Twitch integration.
Earlier this year, it was announced that Amazon was working on a streaming service of its own, one that would hopefully compete with the likes of Microsoft’s Project xCloud and Google’s Stadia. The move would coincide with Stadia’s pairing with YouTube and could confirm rumors that Amazon is looking to launch the service as early as 2020.
Amazon has previously experimented with cloud gaming before with Amazon Game Studios in 2014, but didn’t move forward with any of their plans for undisclosed reasons. Although there aren’t many specific details about what Amazon’s gaming initiative will shape up to look like, Amazon Games’ official website states, “We believe the evolution that began with arcade communities … growing to the live streams and esports of today will continue to a future where everyone is a gamer and every gamer can create, compete, collaborate, and connect with others at massive scales.” It's possible the company knew that the technology wasn't available yet for users to use its platform to its fullest capability, something other companies are starting to have difficulty addressing.
With Microsoft already investing in cloud-based gaming as early as last year and Google’s ownership stake in YouTube and other cloud-based platforms such as Google Cloud, Amazon would appear to lag behind the two major companies. However, though some may wonder why Amazon would look to break into the gaming industry, Amazon Web Services already owns a large stake in the internet, including the fact that Epic Games relies almost entirely on the service’s worldwide game-server to deliver Fortnite. Amazon also owns Twitch, proving the company’s ability to maintain a massive infrastructure and provide a very reliable cloud gaming service of its own.
Cloud-based gaming on any device offers an opportunity for the tech industry to take on a brand new customer base, so it’s clear why a number of companies are looking to sneak their way into the picture. Though not much is known how Amazon specifically intends to corner the gaming industry, 2020 is undoubtedly shaping up to be an epic year for gamers around the world and will mark the beginning of new look for the video game industry.
Source: The Verge