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Amazon will use its cloud technology to handle thousands of characters on screen at once for an ambitious new game on its Fire TV, the retail giant’s VP of games has told Develop.
Discussing the recently revealed microconsole in a new interview with Develop, Mike Frazzini teased a new title by the retail giant that has now gone into full development.
He said while the amount of physics and AI the development team is trying to achieve would usually “require a high-end gaming PC”, it would be running part of the title in the Amazon cloud to unlock more horsepower beyond the hardware’s own limitations.
Frazzini added that such technology Amazon and its studios make would be shared with third-party developers for use on the Fire TV and other non-Amazon platforms.
“We’ve already got a prototype of a game that we’ve now put into full development where there are thousands of characters on the screen simultaneously interacting,” said Frazzini.
“The tremendous amount of physics and AI in this sort of game would require a high-end gaming PC, but we’re running part of it in the Amazon cloud and part of it on the device. It’s an interesting experience that we’ve always wanted to create but haven’t been able to due to the limitations of the devices.
“As we build that technology, we’ll also release it to third-party developers so they can use it in their games as well. And not just for Amazon – developers could use it to make games for any platform.”
Amazon’s first in-house game was third-person shooter Sev Zero (pictured), developed by Amazon Game Studios. That team now includes the likes of Portal creator Kim Swift, Splinter Cell designer Clint Hocking and a host of other experienced devs.
You can read the full interview with Mike Frazzini, in which he discusses Amazon’s gaming plans and its broader aims for the Fire TV, here.
