Is Amazon planning to enter the Cloud gaming business?
Amazon currently has openings on their job platform that include either the term “Cloud Gaming" or “Lead Platform Game Engineer.” This is not the passive version, where a player can pay for money while others look over their shoulder – Twitch is already an Amazon product – we're talking rather about Cloud games. Here games can be played without needing to be downloaded and installed on the computer at home.
Cloud games run on high-performance Amazon servers in data centers, and the user only needs a fast internet connection instead of an expensive graphics card. The distance between the home computer and the Amazon server is also important, because one of the most important fact while playing is the ping. When the ping is too high, it creates a lag, and the game become unplayable.
Amazon, with its denser infrastructure, seems better equipped for Cloud gaming than Google or Sony. Sony has offered a game streaming service for years with PlayStation Now, and other major companies like EA, Sony, Microsoft with Xbox, and Nintendo would also like to throw their hat in the ring. Amazon already has its own game studio and Cloud infrastructure. An official statement from Amazon regarding Cloud gaming is still to come.