Ex-Valve devs Kim Swift and Clint Hocking join Amazon

Ex-Valve developers Kim Swift and Clint Hocking have joined Amazon Game Studios.

As spotted by Kotaku, the two have been hired as senior game designers at the development studio.

The news comes as Amazon revealed its new set-top box Fire TV which can also act as a microconsole. Amazon Game Studios also unveiled its first game, third-person shooter Sev Zero.

Swift worked at Valve between 2005 and 2009, and was project lead on the first Portal game. She also acted as level designer on Left 4 Dead 1 and 2.

Following her time at Valve, she joined Airtight Games as creative director, working on titles such as Quantum Conundrum.

Clint Hocking meanwhile was a game designer at Valve for just over a year before leaving in December. He had previously worked as creative director at LucasArts on unannounced projects and held the same role at Ubisoft Montreal, working on titles including Splinter Cell and Far Cry 2.

As well as expanding its own game development team, Amazon recently bought Killer Instinct studio Double Helix. The news signals Amazon’s serious intent to tackle the games market for its new microconsole.

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