There’s no denying that Amazon has been trying its hardest to push into the video game market. From developing their own projects like New World or Crucible to rebranding Twitch Prime to Prime Gaming, it’s clear that they’re not backing off on their endeavor to establish Amazon as a big name in the gaming world. Given that the games they’ve developed so far are primarily online, it makes sense for them to partner with another developer who’s forte is online-focused titles. Smilegate is a Korean game developer that was founded in 2002, developing mobile and PC games in a variety of genres from sports, to action, to MMOs. They’re the creators of Crossfire, the biggest free-to-play first-person shooter in the world, with over 8 million players around the globe. More specifically, Amazon Games has partnered with Smilegate RPG to publish a game in 2021.
“Smilegate RPG and Amazon Games will combine our respective expertise to introduce one of our AAA games to Western players,” said Chi Won Gil, CEO of Smilegate RPG. While Amazon hasn’t released any information yet, a very likely candidate is Smilegate’s Diablo-Esque Lost Ark. Developed with Unreal Engine 3 and released only in Korea, it’s a huge MMORPG that Smilegate developed for over seven years before releasing it in November of 2018. Smilegate has expressed interest in bringing Lost Ark to the West for a long time, and this partnership with Amazon seems like the perfect opportunity to localize it for an international audience.
“Amazon Games is committed to bringing our customers the most engaging game experiences, both through our own internal development teams and from the very best external development studios around the world,” said Christoph Hartmann, Vice President of Amazon Games in a statement released on the official Amazon Games website. “Smilegate has a strong track record of creating big games that players love, built to offer years of enjoyment — exactly the type of best-in-class, living, growing online games we want to bring our customers.”