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Project Tempo: Amazon's Answer to a Cloud Gaming Service

Amazon's Answer to Stadia: Project Tempo, Their Cloud Gaming Service

cloud gaming service

It wasn't even a week ago that I thought about how Amazon might respond to Google's foray into gaming. The videogame livestreaming giant doesn't really hold a candle to the likes of Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, or (now) Google when it comes to video games. There was Breakaway, a project that was abandoned, and on the horizon, there's New World and Crucible. If that's the launch lineup for Amazon in the coming years, it pales in comparison to Google's cloud gaming service and the current library it has to offer.

But recently, Amazon announced its Project Tempo, a gaming service that seeks to rival against Google Stadia. In the age where dopamine and serotonin are linked to instant gratification, this is a welcome announcement from Amazon, a company that has dominated livestreaming since its acquisition of Twitch TV in August of 2014. And it's pretty obvious why Amazon could easily fight for the top spot of a cloud gaming service.

Livestreaming is King

Google Stadia launched with a lot of promises on the horizon and, unfortunately, the promises weren't heavily delivered on. It's my current platform of choice, however, primarily because I dislike handling physical media and I understand the appeal of simply clicking a button to play a game. No downloads, no waiting, no disc fumbling, and no 600-dollar console. 

My personal preferences aside, Amazon can use Google's missteps as a strategy against Google. Since Amazon has had years to develop their platform with 73 percent of the livestream market eager to try out new technology, they'll have a leg up on Google with the tech. It's likely that their next tech rollout could include 4K streaming--a feat that Google has been a little shaky on. The default resolution for Stadia is now 1080P instead of 4K for Chromecast Ultra owners (and for those that actually own a 4K TV). That default alteration was due to the recent Google announcement that Stadia is finally free for people to try out. 

A lot of Google's promised features such as Crowd Play might be headed off with Amazon's version, launched in tandem with Project Tempo and support for 4K, suggesting Google needs to push their jogging to running if they want to see features implemented before Amazon has the upper hand. There's also Stream Share which is a feature used on The Division 2 for players to see where their teammates are in-game. That doesn't seem like a difficult implementation for Amazon seen as multi-streams have been a thing for years, but we'll see how development rolls out.

Where Amazon Might Fail

As before, Amazon's first-party game lineup (from AGS) is incredibly weak. New World was just delayed and Crucible is launching next month. That's it for Amazon's games, and so the corporation is likely eager to snatch up developers for exclusive titles.

But that still doesn't provide a platform. I strongly think Google knew Stadia's release wasn't going to be spectacular, but it's a strategic move--push the product and let its market develop over several months until people discover that cloud gaming services are going to be the new standard. The future of gaming. That's where Amazon might fail since they're technically behind the curve. Two games launching this August isn't impressive, but maybe after a year, when Amazon is ready to reveal the features of Project Tempo, that machine will be well oiled.

Where This Leaves Consoles

In my personal opinion, this is the last console generation. As much as the general gaming population loves consoles, companies do not. They take a huge financial hit on consoles because it's expensive, hi-tech hardware sold at a very low margin. That's why the trend is pushing towards cloud gaming services, where the research, development, and long-term sustainability is primarily targeted towards the servers that deliver these experiences. Not only that, but gigabit internet will likely be a standard, paving the way for a seamless, low-latency gaming experience.

Here's one of the latest clips of my stream. Feel free to stop by when I'm live.




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