Just a day after it launched its new GameCircle platform to reward and incentive Kindle Fire gamers, Amazon has launched a new service called Game Connect, allowing developers to deliver virtual goods to a new range of free-to-play and MMO games on Amazon.com.
Amazon’s new service allows developers to connect their games to Amazon’s payment systems, making it easy for customers to connect their accounts and purchase virtual goods and in-game content.
With more than 3,000 titles available on Amazon’s Digital Games Store, the new platform helps developers get more revenues from their games, whilst providing additional content for Amazon gamers.
If a customer doesn’t have a game account with Amazon, they can sign up on any game’s product page, linking their account so that subscriptions and virtual purchases are automatically synced to their games. It does away with codes and redemption processes, almost certainly resulting in higher customer spending.
Amazon’s announcements in the past two days show the company’s commitment to establishing its own gaming platforms, without having to enter the gaming development market itself. By tying its Appstore apps and now its Digital Games Store to its new platforms, developers are encouraged to leverage Amazon’s APIs to make games more fun and engaging, helping them make money in the process.
Amazon is rumoured to be working on a new range of tablets and even a smartphone. The company is ramping up its efforts to move beyond books, music and movies, tempting people into its retail site and selling its own range of mobile and e-reader devices.
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