Amazon Has Bought Double Helix, MS Internal Studio Taking Over Killer Instinct Development

Amazon has confirmed that they have acquired Double Helix Games. They did not publicly disclose the financial terms, but Amazon did get both the company’s talent and IP. More information will be revealed in a double event to be held in LA on February 13.

In spite of what our source says, Amazon recently denied rumors they were making a microconsole, so they have other plans for the company. Here’s their official statement for now:

Amazon already owns an Amazon Games Studios, based in Irvine, California, the same place Double Helix is located. It is possible that Amazon is looking at some kind of collaboration, if not a full integration between the two.

Amazon Games Studios was launched in 2012 and was rumored to enter heavy recruiting efforts, seeking to undercut rivals like Zynga. However, they have released few games since then. It’s worth noting that Amazon also already owns a game platform, the Kindle Fire, with an App store run separately from Google’s.

To be truthful, Double Helix has not really had a stellar reputation as a developer. While some still remember them most for Silent Hill: Homecoming, and they gained recent prominence as a hired developer for the Killer Instinct and Strider reboots, their track record really has mostly been spotty.

@Nicodemus9 Our internal KI team is still here and franchise is in good hands. We had a plan in place for this transition.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) February 6, 2014

In a separate statement, Team Xbox’s Phil Spencer has confirmed that they have an internal Killer Instinct team to ensure continued development (likely to be Rare). We have yet no word from Capcom about support for Strider, although its likely the co-developer, Capcom’s Osaka studio, will take over. Obviously, given how Microsoft has gone about Killer Instinct's release and development, that game needs it more.

Image is from Killer Instinct.