Amazon Launches Game Studio, Gives Zynga Competition

Amazon is entering the social gaming market with the debut of its new department, Amazon Game Studios.

In a blog post, the ecommerce retailer says the studio will be developing “innovative, fun and well-crafted games.”

Amazon cites the popularity of social games among its customers as the reason for its foray into the market.

“We know that many Amazon customers enjoy playing games — including free-to-play social games — and thanks to Amazon’s know-how, we believe we can deliver a great, accessible gaming experience that gamers and our customers can play at any time,” the post said.

The Seattle-based company debuted its first major release, titled Living Classics, on Monday. In the game, a family of foxes come across colorful animated scenes from their favorite books, including Alice in Wonderland,The Wizard of Oz and King Arthur. Players must help the foxes reunite by finding moving objects.

The game includes other features as well, such as visiting other gamers (or “friends”) and sharing rewards that have been earned. Check out the video below to watch the Living Classics launch trailer.

Amazon has reached out to gamers on social media, with a Facebook fan page that currently has a little more than 150 likes. You can also play the game on Facebook, for free, here.

Amazon’s new game studio may spell more trouble — and competition — for Zynga, the embattled social game development company. Late last month, Zynga’s stock fell nearly 40% in just a few hours, after the company released its second quarter earnings report.

Via: Mashable