Analyst: Amazon Might be Prepping Steam-type Service

March 26, 2010

One analyst’s check into the hiring ads of online retailer Amazon leads him to believe that the company is preparing its own digital delivery service for games.

Via MCVUK we hear from Lazard Capital Analyst Colin Sebastian, who wrote, “Our periodic checks of job postings uncovered a search by Amazon in the video game category to help implement a new digital distribution platform.”

The analyst said that Amazon has about 1,250 open positions, with 511 of those centering on software development.

Sebastion continued:

As in other segments of digital media, we expect Amazon to pursue new opportunities as an aggregator of online games, similar to Steam (PC), BigPoint (browser) and others.

Since the company already has the infrastructure to deliver digital content, we believe that increased selection and a focus on the user experience will be key factors in gaining further market share.

GP: Amazon is known for providing great customer service and its DRM-free music downloads are a welcome alternative to Apple’s iTunes store. While Steam is a gamer’s panacea, any Amazon entry into the space would most likely offer a much wider selection and could perhaps foster some pricing competition (imagine a world where digital copies of new games are priced substantially less than boxed versions).

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Comments

Re: Analyst: Amazon Might be Prepping Steam-type Service

Submitted by Austin_Lewis on Mon, 03/29/2010 - 08:41.

I don't know if I think this will turn out well. I mean, look at amazons other multitude of failures, their broken review system, their piss-poor customer service, etc., etc.

Of course, I doubt it'll be able to compete with Steam anyway.

Re: Analyst: Amazon Might be Prepping Steam-type Service

Submitted by killatia on Sat, 03/27/2010 - 10:31.

Unless they have something that tops steam Amazon is gonna fell.

http://www.magicinkgaming.com/

Re: Analyst: Amazon Might be Prepping Steam-type Service

Submitted by deuxhero on Sat, 03/27/2010 - 09:32.

More options are always good.

Re: Analyst: Amazon Might be Prepping Steam-type Service

Submitted by bpm195 on Sat, 03/27/2010 - 03:27.

Steam wins because every Valve PC game forces you to install Steam, and they're among the best PC developers. I sincerely hate buying digital copies of games, and I hate running background applications needlessly, but some time around Still Alive I just gave up and let Steam win. Pretty sure I'm not the only one.

Re: Analyst: Amazon Might be Prepping Steam-type Service

Submitted by Cerabret100 on Sat, 03/27/2010 - 15:54.

Valve and Jonathan Coulton are both pure win in my book.

I too was initially hesitent, as i like looking through the manuals and stuff for my games. Then The Orange Box and Steam Weekend Deals (and now midweek madness) proceeded to show me the error of my ways.

And now i've got 46 games on my account, with maybe ten of them having actually paid full price.

Re: Analyst: Amazon Might be Prepping Steam-type Service

Submitted by GrimCW on Sun, 03/28/2010 - 14:59.

256 on my account atm, and most weren't full price. (more if you count the "packaged" deals like Kings Quest, Space Quest, and Commander Keen titles... i want Quest for Glory now!)

the steam deals are just tops, and they have sales so often its insane.

new releases less than a month after release will see 10-20% sale in no time for a weekend or midweek.

i also love having the ability to just watch as they auto patch, and getting older games at low prices minus the CD whoas (such as my 3 ravaged Q2 discs are now obsolete)

only problem is the modded .exe for some games to be steam compatible have cause issues.

such as the HDCP for Deus Ex can't be used on steam without attaining the original games .exe, and the problem they had with the new patch for Cryostasis (which FINALLY made it to steam!... question is, how come no one over at 1c noticed this problem until now? reading the forums there was a huge outcry originally, and only recently did someone look into it?!)

my only real quarrel though is the morons that'll accuse Steam of all their problems as if Valve ( of which these idiots don't even know run steam half the time) despite 9/10 of the time its a user error (as always)

or they expect steam to rectify all problems and bugs with the games.. heh.. and wal mart runs tech support for MW2 right? :p

Re: Analyst: Amazon Might be Prepping Steam-type Service

Submitted by GrimCW on Fri, 03/26/2010 - 16:02.

its gonna fail, much like EA's EA Downloader service, its just doomed.

D2D is actually appearing to have a harder time thanks to steam as it is, and forbid we hear much of other DD sites much besides GoG (of which Steam is also moving into their territory lately somewhat :) )

Re: Analyst: Amazon Might be Prepping Steam-type Service

Submitted by Dan on Fri, 03/26/2010 - 13:50.

This could be hit or miss (and by miss, I mean terrible disater).

I have a love/hate relationship with Amazon. Their music downloads are fair and honest, but their video service is complete shit that puts itunes to shame in terms of restrictiveness (and I never thought I'd say that, as itunes is a bastion of that kind of BS).

Poll

Shout box

Andrew Eisen: Well, the Xbox One reveal certainly had an interesting affect on the big 3's stock prices. https://twitter.com/AndrewEisen/status/33705126448977100805/21/2013 - 10:45pm

PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/so-the-xbox-one-reveal-screwed-up-a-lot-of-peoples-kin-509179256 So The Xbox One Reveal Screwed With Some People's Kinects05/21/2013 - 10:36pm

Zen: On a funny side note...both of my boys have already voted NOT to get the Xbox One as soon as they found out Minecraft won't transfer lol. Some people have priorities damnit! ;)05/21/2013 - 9:27pm

Andrew Eisen: Here's the full quote on EA making Wii U games according to Neogaf: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56112105/21/2013 - 8:19pm

Andrew Eisen: Xbox One may not be always on but that doesn't mean you can use it without an internet connection. http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-50916410905/21/2013 - 7:39pm

Andrew Eisen: Polygon says EA's CFO says it is developing games for Wii U but doesn't provide that quote. http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4351844/ea-developing-wii-u-games05/21/2013 - 7:11pm

Andrew Eisen: Well, I was right. Both Sony and Microsoft's consoles will be out by the year's end and both will be significantly more powerful than the current gen.05/21/2013 - 5:06pm

james_fudge: thnx05/21/2013 - 4:47pm

Zen: Just to let ya know...you called it the "Xbox 260" in the backwards compatibility article lol.05/21/2013 - 4:26pm

Zen: @PHX Awesome, I will hit those up after class tonight. Going back to college finally! :) My kids have had a blast telling ME to do my homework now lol.05/21/2013 - 4:19pm

PHX Corp: @Zen I sent you a friend request on both PSN and XBL, just a heads up05/21/2013 - 4:16pm

Zen: I noticed it with the football players when EA showed off Madden as well.05/21/2013 - 4:11pm

Zen: Is it just me or is call of duty hitting the "uncanny valley" with their nicely modeled faces and dead looking eyes? I found it distracting and seemed actually "less" real to me lol.05/21/2013 - 4:10pm

james_fudge: it sounds like if you have an HD reciever you'll be able to use it with a pass-through cable... not 100 percent sure yet05/21/2013 - 2:41pm

james_fudge: happening now http://majornelson.com/2013/05/21/xbox-one-architecture-panel/05/21/2013 - 2:20pm

E. Zachary Knight: Some reading material for Microsoft on its used games blocks. That will hurt the console more than helping. http://ezknight.net/?page_id=20505/21/2013 - 2:18pm

james_fudge: yeah good luck with over the air TV05/21/2013 - 2:12pm

E. Zachary Knight: But what if I want to only watch over the air tv? I don't subscribe to pay tv. I never will. If that is a requirement, then MS wasted 45 minutes telling me how great TV will be.05/21/2013 - 2:08pm

james_fudge: EZK it will depend on your provider, just like HBO Go i'd imagine.05/21/2013 - 2:05pm

PHX Corp: @IanC there's also a chance that those titles might be Xbox one exclusive, but it's too early to tell afaik05/21/2013 - 2:03pm

All shouts

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