Amazon acquires backend cloud-based game dev platform GameSparks

Amazon has acquired the game dev platform GameSparks for an undisclosed sum. GameSparks officially announced that it had been picked up by the company and brought into Amazon’s growing network of game development resources earlier today in a brief blog post, in part confirming acquisition rumors from last year

Those initial rumors said that GameSparks had been purchased for $10 million in July 2017, but neither party disclosed the terms of the sale in today’s announcement.

With the acquisition, Amazon now bolsters its Amazon Web Services arm with a suite of backend cloud-based game developer tools. The purchase also brings Amazon’s offerings more in-line with competitor Microsoft, who itself recently picked up the cloud-based backend tool company PlayFab.

The GameSparks platform itself grants game developers access to analytics and marketing tools for their games and also aids devs in building a variety of scalable features such as online multiplayer, leaderboards, social resources, in-game currencies, and in-app purchases into their projects.

"GameSparks has long shared Amazon’s passion for helping developers create amazing gaming experiences, so it’s a natural fit," said the short announcement. "Being part of Amazon means we’ll continue to grow the service, as well as explore new ways to unlock the power of Amazon to help you build, operate, and monetize your games."