Ben Fox Rubin/CNET
Between Fire TV and Prime Video, Amazon is already well-acquainted with home entertainment. Now, the company is reportedly setting its sights on gaming, with a big budget sci-fi shooter called Crucible and a massively multiplayer game called New World set to launch in May, followed by the long-rumored launch of a cloud-based gaming service code-named Project Tempo.
Per the New York Times, the games are each part of an huge investment into cloud-based gaming worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and one that could set the online retailer up as player three to Google and Microsoft’s players one and two. Each of those key competitors already has its feet firmly planted in the online gaming space — Microsoft with the Xbox, and Google with its Stadia online gaming platform.
According to the NYT report, Crucible is a team-based arena battler focused on competitive online play and streamability on Twitch, the gaming-centered streaming platform purchased by Amazon in 2014. In New World, players will co-inhabit a fantasy-themed version of the 17th century. Details on controllers and other specifics are scant as of now, but it will be interesting to see how Amazon ultimately pitches itself against competing cloud-based platforms, and against full-fledged gaming consoles, too.
As for Project Tempo, Amazon reportedly hoped to launch the platform sometime this year, but may have to delay its official start date until 2021 due to the ongoing coronaviruscrisis.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.