Amazon Just Bought A Video Gaming Studio Called Double Helix Games

Double Helix Games, founded in 2007, is merger of two well-known game development shops, The Collective, Inc. and Shiny Entertainment. It has about 75 employees who will now fold into Amazon employment.

TechCrunch, who confirmed the news of the buy from Amazon, reports,

The Double Helix deal may fuel to the recent rumors that Amazon is preparing to release its own gaming console in the coming months. Last week, the video game industry blog VG247.com reported that Amazon is planning to launch an Android-powered "dedicated games and entertainment device this year priced below $300… [that] will compete directly with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo." Buzz about an Amazon console has been around for a while: This past summer, the rumor was that the company was planning to debut a Qualcomm-based console system. Amazon declined to comment on the console speculation when reached today.

You can read more on the deal here.

Here is a game trailer for one of the Double Helix games called "Killer Instinct."