5 ms·

I'm just curious, what was your experience trying to develop games in your spare time? Were you told to stop?

lowiqengineer 7y ago
People sometimes do, they just don't publicize it. It's specifically noted in the intellectual property agreement, though nobody seems to be sure why.
- Pfhreak 7y ago
  Search inside for the 'Game Development Policy', it's separate from the intellectual property commitment. Reasoning is likely from Amazon Games Studios? I think there may be a concern that someone at Amazon might make the next flappy bird or Minecraft and Amazon couldn't capitalize on it.
  - whatsmyusername 7y ago
    The one time I met an Amazon games studio employee my response was, “Amazon has a games studio?” He said it was a common response.
    - Pfhreak 7y ago
      Heh. I worked in Amazon Games for a bit. It was a very common question. Along with, "What games have they made?" (Breakaway a 'sports brawler', The Grand Tour game a tie in for the show, New World an mmo about being a colonizer, Crucible a third person shooter.)
      - JamesBarney 7y ago
        Woah, totally surprised by the New World mmo. That looks like a PR landmine.
    - cloakandswagger 7y ago
      This is the only rationale I can come up with for the game development policy: AGS hasn't produced anything in 8 years and what they have in the pipeline looks disappointing so...cross your fingers and hope one of your employees makes the next Minecraft.
  - mantap 7y ago
    If it's in your own free time on your own hardware why would Amazon be able to capitalize on it? Employees are not slaves.
    - testvox 7y ago
      Salaried employees don't have free time.
      - mantap 7y ago
        I'm going to assume this is sarcasm.
    - lonelappde 7y ago
      Noncompete agreements are legal in many places outside California
Pfhreak 7y ago
There's an explicit company policy about game development that is separate from their open source policy. It, among other things, prevents you from working on a game project with anyone else.
- OGWhales 7y ago
  Why games though? I don’t see any obvious reasons why they would care.
  - canttestthis 7y ago
    I always thought that they were doing it because they had a really low opinion of their own game studio. Maybe they were trying to kill as much future competition as they were able to (legally).
    - OGWhales 7y ago
      I’d say that opinion is fair considering I had no idea they even had their own game studio.
      - Operyl 7y ago
        Their first (and only) title they seem to be pushing hard to the public (in my opinion, at least. The Grand Tour Game wasn't really marketed): https://www.newworld.com/en-us https://www.newworld.com/en-us
  - poutrathor 7y ago
    I see some. Top of my head : Games development are limitless in scope and technical complexity and very passion driven. So, a developer could spend countless hours each night improving his game. Next day, all the team has is a tired developer, drinking coffee and unable to code straight or analyse issues without missing subtleties. Opening a wordpress for your mom and her gardening hobby is a significantly less time consuming task.

People sometimes do, they just don't publicize it. It's specifically noted in the intellectual property agreement, though nobody seems to be sure why.

Pfhreak 7y ago
Search inside for the 'Game Development Policy', it's separate from the intellectual property commitment. Reasoning is likely from Amazon Games Studios? I think there may be a concern that someone at Amazon might make the next flappy bird or Minecraft and Amazon couldn't capitalize on it.
- whatsmyusername 7y ago
  The one time I met an Amazon games studio employee my response was, “Amazon has a games studio?” He said it was a common response.
  - Pfhreak 7y ago
    Heh. I worked in Amazon Games for a bit. It was a very common question. Along with, "What games have they made?" (Breakaway a 'sports brawler', The Grand Tour game a tie in for the show, New World an mmo about being a colonizer, Crucible a third person shooter.)
    - JamesBarney 7y ago
      Woah, totally surprised by the New World mmo. That looks like a PR landmine.
  - cloakandswagger 7y ago
    This is the only rationale I can come up with for the game development policy: AGS hasn't produced anything in 8 years and what they have in the pipeline looks disappointing so...cross your fingers and hope one of your employees makes the next Minecraft.
- mantap 7y ago
  If it's in your own free time on your own hardware why would Amazon be able to capitalize on it? Employees are not slaves.
  - testvox 7y ago
    Salaried employees don't have free time.
    - mantap 7y ago
      I'm going to assume this is sarcasm.
  - lonelappde 7y ago
    Noncompete agreements are legal in many places outside California

Pfhreak 7y ago

There's an explicit company policy about game development that is separate from their open source policy. It, among other things, prevents you from working on a game project with anyone else.

OGWhales 7y ago
Why games though? I don’t see any obvious reasons why they would care.
- canttestthis 7y ago
  I always thought that they were doing it because they had a really low opinion of their own game studio. Maybe they were trying to kill as much future competition as they were able to (legally).
  - OGWhales 7y ago
    I’d say that opinion is fair considering I had no idea they even had their own game studio.
    - Operyl 7y ago
      Their first (and only) title they seem to be pushing hard to the public (in my opinion, at least. The Grand Tour Game wasn't really marketed): https://www.newworld.com/en-us https://www.newworld.com/en-us
- poutrathor 7y ago
  I see some. Top of my head : Games development are limitless in scope and technical complexity and very passion driven. So, a developer could spend countless hours each night improving his game. Next day, all the team has is a tired developer, drinking coffee and unable to code straight or analyse issues without missing subtleties. Opening a wordpress for your mom and her gardening hobby is a significantly less time consuming task.