Amazon launched its first social game, Living Classics, and also launched Amazon Game Studios which are hosted on Facebook.
"We know that many Amazon customers enjoy playing games--including free-to-play social games--and thanks to Amazon's know-how, we believe we can deliver a great, accessible gaming experience that gamers and our customers can play any time," said Amazon on its Amazon Game Studios website.
Amazon may try to build customer loyalty and customer engagement by offering unique content, which Google gained when it launched its Google+ Games. Amazon might see this as a way to distinguish its Kindle hardware from other devices by adding significance to its platforms. The retailer giant has developed many game titles under A2Z Research and Development Games Studio for iOS, OS X, and Windows.
Amazon declined to comment beyond what is given on its Amazon Game Studios website.
The company's game, Living Classics, is a free to play featuring a family of foxes that wander through the scenes of famous books like "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Wizard of Oz." The company has further plans to hire game developers and introduce many more titles.
Facebook is attempting to lift its stocks up after poor Q2 earnings. Facebook has now forayed into online gambling to increase its revenue, by launching Bingo Friendzy, operated by Gamesys for U.K.-based adult users of Facebook. Facebook previously also focused on virtual money.
Zynga has not done better in Q2 either, announcing a loss of $22.8 million. The company blamed this for Facebook making changes on its UI and algorithm that reduced engagement of players. Social gaming is "starting to look more and more like a fad," said analyst Arvind Bhatia, analyst, Sterne Agee & Leach.
Adding to these troubles, Zynga was recently sued by EA, who claimes Zynga's The Ville is copied from EA's Sims Social game. Last year Zynga sued Brazil-based game studio Vostu, settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
Amazon with its hardware devices and e-commerce might well be able to make money off the social games unlike Facebook and Zynga.