UPDATED 06:25 EDT / FEBRUARY 06 2014

Amazon acquires Double Helix Games: Android-based console coming soon?

amazon-consoleAmazon has confirmed the acquisition of Double Helix Games for both its talent and intellectual property.

“Amazon has acquired Double Helix as part of our ongoing commitment to build innovative games for customers,” Amazon said in a statement to TechCrunch.

Double Helix Games is a game studio that arose from the fusion of The Collective, Inc. and Shiny Entertainment in 2007, which in the past have delivered popular game titles such as “Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb,” “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and “Earthworm Jim,” “Sacrifice, MDK” and “Enter the Matrix,” respectively.

The company now employs 27 people and all of them will be joining Amazon, but operations will stay at its Orange County headquarters.

More recently, Double Helix Games’ was responsible for titles such as “Killer Instinct,” “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” “Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters,” “Silent Hill: Homecoming,” and “Front Mission Evolved,” and another title, “Strider,” that’s scheduled to be released for the PlayStation 3 this month.

The acquisition was set be announced at a joint event by the two companies of February 13, 2014.

This acquisition bolsters rumors that Amazon is working on its very own games console. Last week, VG247 reported that Amazon is building an Android-based games machine, and said that game publishers have already received a prototype of the console which looks something like a PSOne redesign – grey in colour, oblong in shape and with sharp edges, and expected to cost around $300 when it launches later this year.

Double Helix Games could be incorporated into Amazon Game Studios, which has largely failed to come up with any enticing titles. The acquisition could help Amazon launch games for other consoles, as well as developing titles for its own rumored console.


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