Amazon Game Studios Has Unveiled Their First Game, Here's What We Know

On the eve of the second TwitchCon, The owners of the game streaming service took the stage to unveil their first title, Breakaway. The studio says it's the first game built with Twitch specifically in mind. Breakaway looks to try and combine a number of factors that make games popular choices for streamers on Twitch, but in the case, Amazon has also developed a number of features specifically for their industry leading service.

There was a lot of talk going on inside the Twitch chat in the minutes leading up to the official announcement of Breakaway. Was the game a MOBA? Was it an Overwatch clone? Perhaps it was a tournament fighter. The answer appears to be someplace in between. Breakaway is, at its most basic, a 4 v 4 sports game where two teams attempt to move a ball, called a "relic" in the game, into one of two scoring pods on opposite sides of a game field. However, the field isn't simply a field, and the players are more than just athletes.

Game fields will include such places as El Dorado, Atlantis, and the River Styx. As champions, players will be able to choose from a number of different options. while only seven were shown off on Thursday evening, many more were promised for the future. Among the characters who took center stage at first, were familiar historical names like pirate Anne Bonny (pictured above) the warrior Spartacus, and Morgan Le Fay. Other, more original concepts include the close range shooter Rawlins, Melee Tank Viking Thorgrim and ranged support Alona.

The characters absolutely feel like something out of a MOBA. Each has different skills and abilities that they can use in the game. In addition to trying to score points, you can also fight the opposing players. Killing another player in the game means they have to respawn, which in turn gives the opposing team an advantage for a few seconds. As a sport, Breakaway appears to be the most exhausting activity one can engage in, next to soccer.

The thing that may allow Breakaway to, well, break away, is that while most games are developed, and then adopted by the Twitch community, Breakaway has been developed specifically for that community. Amazon Game Studios mentioned numerous features that were being built into the game that would allow both broadcasters and viewers to build their community. Broadcaster Spotlight would allow players to interact with broadcasters, and be aware when the person they're playing against was broadcasting the game. Stream+ would allow viewers to earn points by viewing streams and betting on outcomes. Those points could then be used for in-game rewards.

For broadcasters, the Metastream feature would allow them to get data about their viewers and the people they were playing with, including real-time overlays which could potentially be used to build a better broadcast. This feature, among all the rest, drew a round of applause from the TwitchCon crowd.

No release date was mentioned but Amazon Game Studios said the Alpha would be launching soon. The game is also available to play this weekend on the floor at TwitchCon in San Diego.

What do you think? Is Breakaway the next big streaming hit? What do you think about what the game brings to the table for broadcasters? Let us know what you think in the comments below.