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Amazon GameOn gives competitive gamers actual Amazon prizes

Imagine the next version of HQ Trivia, but with Amazon gifts.


Amazon prizes are coming to your games.


There's a chance your next mobile game could offer up an Amazon prize, starting right now.

Much like HQ Trivia's daily money giveaways, Amazon's newly-announced GameOn service looks to enable prizes and knit that into cross-platform competitions. Except, in GameOn's case, Amazon is designing it to work on consoles, PCs and mobile at once. Announced ahead of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, it's a clear effort to increase prizing in competitive games.

Amazon's launching the service with several partners: nWay, Game Insight, Millennial Esports' Eden Games, Umbrella Games, Nazara, Mindstorm, Mokuni, Avix and GameCloud Studios. Beach Buggy Racing 2 and an upcoming Doodle Jump title will be two upcoming games to start giving away Amazon prizes using GameOn. Amazon's developer page has more details.


GameOn's logo.


According to Marja Koopmans, director of Amazon Competitive Gaming, the tools are designed to enable competitions by location, and Amazon logins aren't required unless prizes are won. Prizes can be real, or digital. Physical prizes are limited to the US for now.

The prizes can be given as surprise boxes to open, or they could be known, specific gifts.

The tools are designed to be easy to use, cloud-based and non-intrusive to gameplay, focusing on connecting gaming communities and giving out prizes. Amazon's focus is all about prizing and competition.

Koopmans sees the efforts as helping mobile gaming's competitive rise. And, maybe, to create a larger on-ramp for the future of eSports: "There's no pro league without an amateur league."