Amazon seems to be taking the game-development business rather seriously as during last year’s TwitchCon, the company announced the first three titles to be released under Amazon Gaming Studios’ name.
The company has now announced their latest gaming studio in San Diego, which is being headed by industry veteran, John Smedley, the co-creator of EverQuest.
The aforementioned studio is apparently working on “an ambitious new project that taps into the power of the AWS Cloud and Twitch to connect players around the globe in a thrilling new game world.” Smedley will be heading an ‘all-new team’.
In a statement, Amazon said, “John’s pioneering work helped define the modern MMO, and his influence can be felt in thousands of games that followed,” further adding, “He helped create the blueprint for fusing massive game worlds with vibrant player communities, a vision that we share at Amazon Game Studios.”
Apparently the project that the team at San Diego studio is working on is still in its ‘early days’. Given that Smedley has had prior experience in MMO (massively multiplayer online) games, the upcoming project might be on similar lines.
Smedley worked with Sony Online Entertainment for 20 years and lead the team for 15 years. He stepped down from his position of CEO and president of Daybreak Game Company in 2005 and initiated Pixelmage Games. However, in 2016, both Pixelmage Games and its RPG (role playing game), Hero’s Song shut down.