Amazon has ventured deeper into the gaming niche by confirming its acquisition of Double Helix Games.
The details about the purchase of the California-based independent game studio has not yet been disclosed by Amazon but TechCrunch reported that it learned of the deal from an invitation for a recruiting event on Feb. 13 that will be jointly hosted by the two companies in Los Angeles.
"The deal was for both talent and IP, we understand," wrote Sarah Perez of TechCrunch.
Double Helix is far from being a new player in the industry. The game studio has almost 20 years of experience under its belt. It was created when Shiny Entertainment merged with The Collective. The former is best known for games such as Earthworm Jim, MDK, and Sacrifice. The latter released popular titles such as "Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."
"Amazon has acquired Double Helix as part of our ongoing commitment to build innovative games for customers," Amazon said in a curt statement.
At present, Double Helix has 75 in-house game developers working from its base in Orange County and they will still continue working from their current headquarters even after joining Amazon.
Double Helix developed the popular "Killer Instinct" game and is set to roll out the "Strider" remake on Feb. 18 for the PlayStation and Xbox on Feb. 19. There are reports that "Harker" and "Dirty Harry" will be dropped following the acquisition but the company promised that its available game titles and future releases will still be supported.
The company also created other hits such as "Silent Hill: Homecoming," "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra," "Front Mission Evolved," "Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters," and Battleship: The Video Game."
News of the acquisition come close on the heels of rumors that Amazon is rmulling on rolling out this year an Android gaming console that will have a sub-$300 sticker price and will be powered by Snapdragon chips. The new console is setting up a head on collision in the living rooms of consumers with the offerings of Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony as well as mini consoles Gamestick and Ouya. With this development, the company is also running extensive recruitment campaigns to have the manpower for game development.
The company already has Amazon Game Studios that it opened in August 2012. It released "Living Classics" on Facebook but it killed the said game before the end of 2013. Prior to that, it also acquired Reflexive Entertainment five years ago.
With a customer base of over 200 million to boot, the gaming business might further help boost Amazon's earnings. Amazon's 2013 Q4 earning hit $25.59 billion, roughly 20 percent more compared to the same quarter in 2012. Its full year income was reported to be pegged at $74.45 billion, a good jump from 2012 earnings of $61.09 billion.
