Amazon Plans Game Streaming Service Alongside First Multiplayer Game Crucible

Tech giant Amazon has decided to enter the gaming industry more directly with its battle royale-style multiplayer game called Crucible in May. Alongside the new title, Amazon is also said to be working on a cloud gaming platform to take on Google Stadia under the code name Project Tempo, along with casual games for its Twitch streaming service for game streamers and viewers.

The game is being developed under a new banner called Relentless Studios, which has set up its operations in Seattle. Crucible was supposed to be launched last month, but the company postponed the launch to April 14. With the situation getting from bad to worse with travel restrictions the company has now decided to launch its first original big-budget game in May, according to an NYT report.

Similar to other multiplayer third-person shooters, Crucible features 12 players dropped into a battle royale-type arena where the last player alive wins. While the concept is similar to PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) or Fortnite, the game involves teamwork to a large extent in the initial stages. American game designer Louis Castle, who has been hired by Amazon to run Relentless Games, told NYT that the company has been working on Crucible since 2014 and there have been several redesigns to the product.

Moreover, the game will focus on competitive online play and live streaming on Amazon’s game streaming platform Twitch. Further, Amazon is developing a game processing engine called Lumberyard for huge multiplayer games.

“The big picture is about trying to take the best of Amazon and bringing it to games…We have been working for a while, but it takes a long time to make games, and we’re bringing a lot of Amazon practices to making games.” Mike Frazzini, Amazon’s vice president for game services and studios, was quoted as saying.

Besides this, Amazon will also start shipping a multiplayer online game called New World set in an alternative 17th-century setting. New World was created by a separate Amazon game studio in Irvine California built after the Jeff Bezos-led company acquired Double Heliox Games in 2014. The Irvine studio is also developing another multiplayer game based on the “Lord of the Rings” franchise, which is being turned into a TV series for Amazon Prime Video.

While Amazon is working on expanding its presence in the gaming industry, Google entered the gaming world with its Stadia cloud gaming platform last year. The platform will allow users to play expensive games online, without having to download it or buy any discs.

As per a Statista report, India’s gaming industry is also picking up the pace and is following the global shift in gaming patterns. The mobile gaming industry in the country is expected to reach about $405 Mn by 2022, the report added.

The report highlighted that the overall gaming industry in India was valued at INR 62 Cr ($862.82 Mn) in 2019, with computer and console gaming still marking their presence in the overall growth with a market share of $96 Mn and $240 Mn respectively.