Amazon has spent a lot of money on games, and continues to spend a lot of money, but it has not been successful yet, this may be related to the struggle and mismanagement within the gaming department.
According to a Bloomberg report, two sources close to the company stated that Amazon spends close to “$500 million per year” on its video game division, excluding Twitch and Amazon Luna.
However, as stated in the report, the expenses were not paid because the company cancelled many Amazon products, such as Breakaway and the Overwatch style free shooting game Crucible, which was released and subsequently withdrawn from the game Out. The market is due to a lack of players.
It is still developing “New World” and co-developed the “Lord of the Rings” MMO with others, which will support Amazon’s series of movies based on JRR Tolkien’s work. Amazon’s MMORPG New World was originally scheduled to be released in August 2020, but it was postponed to sometime this spring.
In order to strengthen the game department, Amazon has attracted many developers, such as SOE’s John Smedley, portal designer Kim Swift, Far Cry 2 director Clint Hocking and Christoph Hartmann, who have worked at Take-Two for twenty years. Swift and Hocking no longer serve in the company.
The report also detailed that Mike Frazzini, the head of the game department, seems to lack experience in game development. Frazzini apparently also uses indicators when making decisions, rather than listening to the experienced developers he hires.
According to 30 current and former employees, this also relates to how the company’s Lumberyard engine is painful to use, lacks incentives for employees, and how the department cultivates a “brother culture” (thanks to GI.biz).
This is a very interesting report, if you are interested in Bloomberg, you should read it.
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