Amazon Just Doubled Down On Its Video Game Bet

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) introduced a new competitive video gaming service geared towards developers on Monday. GameOn is the e-commerce and web hosting power’s latest foray into the multibillion-dollar gaming industry and should be a further sign to investors that the video game market is rapidly expanding.

Amazon’s new service aims to allow developers and gamers to integrate and create competitions natively across mobile devices, PCs, and gaming consoles. GameOn, which was built on Amazon’s AWS cloud infrastructure, will also allow gamers to win prizes, most of which Amazon will offer through its e-commerce site.

Amazon sees its new cloud gaming division as a way to profit from the proliferation of gaming and the rise of esports. The basic idea is that millions of people play video games and want to experience high-level competition with real monetary benefits on the line, but not all of them are at the level of professional gamers.

“Game developers have consistently told us they are looking for ways to increase player engagement and retention,” Amazon’s Director of Competitive Gaming, Marja Koopmans, said in a statement. “We built Amazon GameOn to give developers simple, yet powerful tools to foster community through competitive gameplay.”

Some relatively well-known gaming companies and esports teams, including nWay, Game Insight, and Millennial Esports’ Eden Games, are currently using GameOn.

Amazon’s new competitive gaming platform comes nearly four years after the company purchased esports streaming platform Twitch for nearly $1 billion.

The esports ecosystem is expected to expand by almost 40% in 2018 to become a $905.6 million business, based on new estimates from market research firm NewZoo. A majority of this money is set to come from non-endemic sponsors, advertisers, and media companies.

This year, HP (NYSE:HP) , Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) , Toyota (NYSE:TM) , and T-Mobile (NYSE:TM) all sponsor Activision Blizzard’s (NASDAQ:ATVI) new “Overwatch League,” which models its structure on major U.S. professional sports leagues. Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ:TTWO) and Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) have also bolstered their partnerships with more mainstream sports.

Amazon looks poised to capitalize on esports while also infusing its e-commerce business with another potential revenue stream through GameOn-based prizes. The company is also set to take on Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) quickly expanding gaming unit.

Microsoft recently purchased a similar tournament and leaderboard-based gaming service called PlayFab, and also just launched its own cloud-based gaming division.

Breaking News: Cryptocurrencies Now Bigger than Visa

The total market cap of all cryptos recently surpassed $700 billion – more than a 3,800% increase in the previous 12 months. They’re now bigger than Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and even Visa! The new asset class may expand even more rapidly in 2018 as new investors continue pouring in and Wall Street becomes increasingly involved.

Zacks’ has just named 4 companies that enable investors to take advantage of the explosive growth of cryptocurrencies via the stock market.

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