Jeff Bezos likes to buy things. He bought the Washington Post with his own pocket money and Amazon purchased Zappos in 2009 and Goodreads in 2013. And now, the house that Bezos built is annexing a videogame studio – Killer Instinct and Strider developer Double Helix Games.
The news comes via TechCrunch, who uncovered a joint recruiting event happening in Los Angeles one week from today. The event, hosted by Amazon and Double Helix, will likely aim to beef up Double Helix itself, as well as Amazon’s internal Amazon Games Studio. When asked about what’s going on, Amazon offered a brief, straightforward confirmation.
Amazon has acquired Double Helix as part of our ongoing commitment to build innovative games for customers.
Sounds… promising! It’s certainly good that Amazon is getting even more serious about game development, given the good-not-great reception its efforts have received thus far. Double Helix deepens Amazon’s development capabilities in a big way, and even buys them some high-profile IP in the process.
Why does it really matter? Well, if Amazon is serious about releasing a console to compete with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, it’s going to need some first party content. Despite Bezos’ reputation as a savvy businessman who shakes up existing markets, I hope he’s aware that consoles may not be quite as easy to crack as tablets were. The Ouya, despite being a worthwhile little device for the right player, has already left a sour taste in the mouths of many when it comes to Android-based consoles.
Whatever ultimately happens with Amazon and Double Helix Games, at least we know Mr. Bezos can laugh it off if things go sour.
