Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA), the perpetually imperiled social game developer, received a new and unexpected competitor this week when Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced that it is getting into game design.
This is not the kind of game that will steal the thunder of Activision (NASDAQ: ATVI), whose Call of Duty franchise still leads the game industry in the United States.
The design work has to shift to the player, but with an assist by technology that makes the game look like a Pixar (nasdaq: PIXR - news - people ) movie.
The game has changed now that Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has unveiled a slate of new tablets.
Also, with game system sales heating up for Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) and Nintendo , the industry as a whole looks strong going into the holiday shopping season.
The9 Limited (Nasdaq: NCTY) is an online game operator and developer in China.
ENGADGET: OpenFeint and The9 will stimulate devs to port their games to Android with cold hard cash
Some now fear Microsoft could play that game after open-source software distributor Novell (nasdaq: NOVL - news - people ) struck a sales and marketing pact with Microsoft last year.
According to Bloomberg, the aforementioned cable providers want to offer higher-quality games than those provided by Zynga (NASDAQ: ZNGA) and other social game developers.
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Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) is turning to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) at a time when the game maker is faced with declining sales and a plummeting stock price.
FORBES: Will Windows 8 Help Electronic Arts Get Back On Track?
Among the possible applications for the software, YouTube announced that Electronic Arts' (nasdaq: ERTS - news - people ) upcoming game, "Spore, " will allow players to upload clips of the game's characters to the Web.
And while game studios spending millions grinding out futuristic or violent epics have to rely on distribution via store shelves and online retailers like Amazon.com (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ), casual game developers have more options.
SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 5, 2013-- (NASDAQ: AMZN)-Amazon today announced another new way for app and game developers to make money on Kindle Fire-introducing Amazon Coins-the new virtual currency for purchasing apps, games and in-app items on Kindle Fire.
ENGADGET: Amazon announces Coins, a virtual currency coming to the Kindle Fire in May
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) knew this, and it was one of the first to build a game console that truly served as a multimedia device.
Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) said it sold more than 19 million game consoles through the quarter ending in March.
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