Amazon: $ 500 million a year – but still not a video game hit

As is known, Amazon is increasingly trying to gain a foothold in the gaming sector, including with its own game projects. But despite huge financial investments, this venture has hardly succeeded so far.

Google ventured into the games industry with its own streaming service Stadia. This got off to a difficult start in many ways, but if you call it that, what about Amazon’s gaming endeavors? The online giant picks up a huge amount of money year after year, but so far, developers of their own first-party titles have failed more or less on a large scale.

In a new report by the renowned business magazine Bloomberg it is now with reference to two related but unspecified sources that Amazon is investing almost “500 million dollars a year” in the gaming division. Twitch and its own gaming service Amazon Luna are not even included in this house number. But so far, the company has received little in return for this investment in gaming software.

Several game projects were immediately discontinued in the development phase, including Breakaway. Other titles such as Crucible, a free-to-play shooter in the style of Blizzard’s Overwatch, were released, but withdrawn from the market due to lack of interest from players. Despite these difficulties, which, according to the report, can be traced back to mismanagement and internal problems within the gaming division, Amazon should continue to be willing to invest heavily in the gaming industry.

The titles still in development include the MMO New World and another MMO based on The Lord of the Rings, which is to support the planned Amazon TV series on the world of JRR Tolkien. However, New World should appear earlier, which should have been available in August 2020. However, Amazon also had to postpone this release to spring 2021.

Will the company finally succeed in a game hit? At least one tries to further improve the position of the gaming division. Well-known developers such as Johne Smedley (formerly Sony Online Entertainment) or the portal designer Kim Swift have been brought on board. However, according to the report, two issues remain to be resolved in the department: Head Mike Frazzini seems loud Bloomberg to be simply too inexperienced in dealing with game development. This should rely on certain metrics in decision-making instead of listening to experienced development. And: The in-house Lumberyard Engine should not be easy to use. Apparently there is still a need for change here.