That, perhaps, partly accounts for the latest changes to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Ts and Cs.
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It also states that game developers must not store copyright-infringing content on the server and that the right to suspend the service at any time is reserved. “We were getting a lot of feedback on how to make our services easier to use in the context of game development”. Based on Crytek’s popular CryEngine, Lumberyard is free to download in beta (with a ton of free assets) and promises no seat or subscription fees and no requirements to share revenue.
There’s a new game engine in town and its developer might surprise you. But where things get a lot more interesting is when you look through the full terms of use for Lumberyard, as one Twitter user did, and found something mildly alarming. We’ll be steering where we’re going as a result of what we hear from our customers about what they need.
Amazon Game Studios is assembling the world’s best talent to harness the power of AWS and Twitch to create new community-driven PC games.
The main differentiator point for Lumberyard is its touted integration with AWS and Twitch, a streaming video platform that is also controlled by Amazon.
With more support inbound, Lumberyard could rival go-to game engine Unity, said Christine Arrington, senior analyst of games at IHS.
For Amazon’s part, it gets an in-house engine, she noted.
Amazon’s move into video game tools is another example of the company’s interest in advancing beyond just building Internet-based plumbing for developers, and toward creating more advanced building blocks for specific industries.
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According to the AWS Service Terms, Lumberyard’s “engine, integrated development environment, and related assets and tools”, known collectively as “Lumberyard Materials”, “may not be run on any Alternate Web Service and your Lumberyard Project may not read data from or write data to any Alternate Web Service”. “If someone makes a game with whatever technology, be it commercially licensed or something they wrote themselves, they’re welcome to use AWS”.
