Amazon releases free game engine Lumberyard integrated with Twitch and AWS
Retail behemoth Amazon is looking to enhance its reputation with gamers by releasing a new, free game development engine called Lumberyard.
The system, based on the widely utilised CryEngine, promises to charge “no seat fees, subscription fees, or requirements to share revenue,” for its use.
Through the engine, Amazon hopes players will use the integrated live-streaming network Twitch, which it acquired last year for just shy of a $1bn, and host online multiplayer servers on its Amazon Web Services cloud – which will invoke a fee for developers.
Amazon monetises the engine through the offering of its web hosting, promising it can scale its game servers to suit the volume of players using them. The engine also boasts Twitch compatibility allowing viewers to impact the gameplay in real time.
The retail giant boasts a gaming studio of its own after last June moving from developing games exclusively for Amazon Fire devices with a pivot into PC gaming. At the time it announced it was working on an “ambitious new PC game project [with teams] excited to use Twitch, the AWS cloud, and technical innovation to radically evolve gameplay”.
On the retail side it is making large strides with gamers by offering a 20 per cent discount on game preorders to Prime subscribers, slashing a substantial chunk off upcoming titles and baiting its premium service with suitable perks to capture the imaginations of gamers.
Leading engines like Unity, Unreal Engine 4, or even CryEngine itself come with imcumbent fees so Amazon's offering could entice developers.