Amazon launches free cross-platform game engine, Lumberyard

Amazon had unveiled Lumberyard and GameLift, dedicated gaming services, designed to attract the professional game-developing industry. The online retail giant offers game-developers the opportunity to construct cloud-connected games that can operate across multiple platforms.

While Lumberyard is targeted at professional developers, who can make use of the software to build 3D indoor and outdoor environments for games, GameLift allows developers to monitor the backend of game-developing. Both programs come with an in-built Twitch integration, which allows developers to track trends and invite gamers to provide input when developing a new game.

In a blog, Amazon Web Services' (AWS) self-styled chief evangelist Jeff Barr said, "We started with several proven, industry leading engines and developer tools, added a considerable amount of our own code, and integrated the entire package with our Twitch video platform and community, while also mixing in access to relevant AWS messaging, identity, and storage services."

In efforts to eclipse other game-developing software engine systems like Unity, Amazon has said that it will allow full access of Lumberyard's source code to developers. However, developers are usually attached to their most commonly used game engines and are unlikely to switch easily. The coming few months should shed light on the kind of interest Lumberyard and GameLift will amass.

Amazon said: "By starting game projects with Amazon Lumberyard, developers are able to spend more of their time creating differentiated gameplay and building communities of fans, and less time on the undifferentiated heavy lifting of building game engine components and managing server infrastructure. And, with Amazon GameLift, developers can be sure that on day one, their live, multiplayer games can scale to support millions of players, while maintaining the high performance gamers expect."