Surprise -- Amazon Game Studios is making Amazon Fire phone games

Amazon Game Studios continues to be the leading developer of Amazon platform-exclusive titles, announcing this week that it is partnering with two mobile studios -- HotGen and Hibernum Creations -- to release a pair of launch games for Amazon's Fire smartphone ahead of its July 24th debut. Both games -- the free-to-play match-3 game Saber's Edge and the $2 platformer To-Fu Fury -- offer in-app purchases and seem designed to showcase the Fire's "Dynamic Perspective" feature. The phone's Dynamic Perspective system uses the Fire's four front-facing cameras to do facial tracking and allows developers to design games that can react to where a player is looking or where the phone is in relation to their face. It's unclear how deeply Amazon Game Studios was involved in the actual development of these games, as both partner studios have established mobile development track records -- HotGen has put out multiple To-Fu games on the iOS App Store, while Hibernum has worked with companies like Disney, EA, and Ubisoft to create mobile titles like Calling All Mixels, Disney Infinity: Action! and Pearl's Peril. Given that we already know Amazon Game Studios is working on Sev Zero and other games for the Amazon Fire TV microconsole, it seems likely that the studio -- which has been staffing up all year -- is digging in to focus primarily on developing showcase games for Amazon hardware. Earlier this year, Killer Instinct creator Double Helix Games was acquired by Amazon, and shortly thereafter it was announced that designers Kim Swift and Clint Hocking were joining Amazon Game Studios.