Building technology capable of making the highest-quality games is hard, time-consuming, and expensive. Also available is Twitch JoinIn, which allows a broadcaster to invite a member of the audience into to the game from within the chat channel. Both services target developers focused on cloud-connected games.
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The final piece of the Lumberyard puzzle can likely be traced back to last summer when Amazon reportedly paid upwards of $50 million for a licensing deal with struggling game-engine company Crytek and its proprietary CryEngine technology.
The beta release today is for the PC and console platforms, but Amazon promise that mobile and VR platforms are on the horizon.
Frazzini said the engine came out of many conversations Amazon has been having with game developers – who have been using its AWS services for years.
But, of course, Amazon has clout, mindshare, and the computing might of AWS on its side, so this is a significant move from the company.
Amazon has also revealed GameLift. It’s also free to download, and comes with “no seat fees, subscription fees, or requirements to share revenue”. Exploiting Amazon’s ownership of the streaming service, it allows functions in-game to be linked directly to Twitch chat. In minutes, game designers can create features such as granting a daily gift or sending in-game notifications without having to write a single line of code.
“Lumberyard simplifies and streamlines game development”, wrote Barr.
Reach and engage fans on Twitch-Amazon Lumberyard is integrated with Twitch so that developers can build gameplay features that engage the more than 1.7 million monthly broadcasters, and more than 100 million monthly viewers on Twitch.
“You simply upload your game server image to AWS and deploy the image into a fleet of EC2 instances that scales up as players connect and play”, wrote Barr.
It’s a shrewd idea – developers are already using Amazon servers.
How numerous best PC games will be made in Lumberyard in the future?
It’s pretty clear that this tech has been out there for awhile with certain developers and let’s be clear – you still need skills, time and patience to create the kind of work you see in the video. “The integration of a fantastic game engine with incredible cloud services presents a wonderful opportunity for both independent developers and established publishers”.
That’s brand-spanking in both senses of the term, as Lumberyard is both completely new and a smack across the cheeks for current dominators in the game-making sector – namely Unity and Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.
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Amazon GameLift is available at launch in the AWS US East (N. Virginia) and US West (Oregon) Regions, with additional Regions coming soon.
