Amazon has released its own game engine called Lumberyard and it’s FREE. Based on CryEngine which it licensed from CryTech, this 3D game engine is also integrated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Twitch (which Amazon acquired in 2014).
According to the company, Lumberyard can be used to develop games for mobile devices, consoles, PCs and even VR platforms. However, though it is free to download and use (unlike its competitors, users need not pay a subscription fee or royalty fee), game developers will be required to pay for additional web services.
The platform also does not make it compulsory for developers to buy server time from Amazon, if for instance the company already has theirs. However, developers cannot use the cloud services of companies like Microsoft and Google.
At the moment, Lumberyard only supports PS4, Xbox One and PC. But Amazon promises that the game engine would be updated to have both VR and mobile support in a few months’ time.
Lumberyard is still in beta and can be downloaded here
