Amazon has announced and released today their brand new gaming engine, and it’s entirely free. Called Lumberyard, the platform is heavily integrated into the Amazon Web Services, including online play infrastructure and Twitch compatibility, a popular video game streaming service.
The system is fully functional to develop AAA-games for PC and all the major consoles, with Amazon having signed official tools deals with both Sony and Microsoft, player created games and apps developed through Lumberyard will be immediately compatible with the PS4 and Xbox One. Plans for mobile support are in the works.
At its core, Lumberyard is based off Crytek’s CryEngine, a popular engine used by many studios in modern gaming development. By licensing the CryEngine, Amazon received “full, unencumbered access to the technology” said vice president of Amazon Games Mike Frazzini. Despite the similarities, Amazon is already working on ways to differentiate Lumberyard from other engines, with their developers working on new components. At launch, Amazon has already added their own tools to the engine, such as a new low-latency networking code purchased from Killer Instinct developer Double Helix back in 2014.
This is but another step for Amazon as they continue to make their presence in the video game industry known, the last title released by Amazon Game Studios was To-Fu Fury in July 2015 for mobile platforms.
