Amazon Buys Reflexive Entertainment, Looks to Distribute Casual Games

It looks like Amazon is getting more serious about gaming. As we reported in July, the Seattle Internet retail giant backs Atomic Moguls, a Seattle-based social-network gaming firm. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is also an investor in Palo Alto, CA-based Social Gaming Network. But now, earlier this week, Reflexive Entertainment, a developer and distributor of casual games based in Lake Forest, CA, announced it has been acquired by Amazon. Terms of the deal have not been released yet.

Reflexive was founded in 1997 and makes casual and online games for PCs and Macs, as well as Xbox 360. At this point, it seems like Amazon wanted the deal to get more heavily into digital distribution of computer games. “It means we’ll be able to expand our distribution network to include Amazon’s amazing distribution channel. With Amazon we will bring a huge new group of customers into play,” said Reflexive CEO and co-founder Lars Brubaker, in a blog post. “We are unbelievably excited to continue working to enhance the online casual gaming experience, for both gamers and game developers…we are thrilled to be joining the Amazon family.”

The big question, of course, is what Amazon’s overarching strategy will be in the gaming space. Is it just looking for an additional source of revenue, or is it reinventing itself as a broader media and entertainment company? Will you be able to play social and casual games on your Kindle? Stay tuned for more info as we get it…

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.