Eight years after entering the video game publishing market, Amazon (AMZN 0.01%) is launching its first major video game Crucible Wednesday.
In the free-to-play team shooter game, which takes a page from Fortnite, game players choose from ten different hunter characters and then enter a match. They play to the death with the last man or woman standing the victor.
IMAGE SOURCE: AMAZON.
According to Bloomberg Amazon will make money via in-game purchases. The e-commerce giant is also working on New World, another battle type game that will be priced beginning at $40. New World is slated for an August release.
While Amazon has been in the game-making business since 2014, two years after it launched its Amazon Game Studios unit, Crucible marks the first blockbuster game to come from the unit. Previously the unit had been focused on making games for tablet devices and getting more people to sign up for its Prime subscription service.
The tech stock is entering a crowded market that counts heavyhitters like Microsoft (MSFT 0.52%), Nintendo (NTDOY -2.30%), and Activision Blizzard (ATVI) as formidable competitors. If the title takes off with game players it could put Amazon in a position to take on the incumbents. After all, the more successful a game studio is the easier it becomes to lure talent. It should also boost its reputation within the industry.
It doesn’t hurt that Amazon owns Twitch, the popular streaming gaming platform it paid $970 million in cash for back in 2014. Not to mention millions of people are still sheltering at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic and are looking for ways to pass the time. That may help drive usage for Amazon’s first major video game.
