It is (kind of) official; Amazon will continue to bring you video games under its new CEO, Andy Jassy.
This is undoubtedly music to your ears if you’ve been holding your breath for the second installment of The Grand Tour Game…
Amazon to Continue Making Video Games
This writer can feel the ripple in time caused by the collective fist pumps of the tens of people who can’t wait for more Amazon Game Studios titles as he types this news.
If you’re excited to see if Crucible will rise from the ashes like the phoenix it never had time to grow into, then an email seen by Bloomberg should light your fuse. That’s because Andy Jassy, Amazon’s new CEO, has committed to continue making video games.
Hopefully, this means we will, at last, see the release of AGS’ continuously delayed massively multiplayer online role-playing game, New World.
This will be excellent news if you are thinking of subscribing to Amazon Luna, which is currently in early access. Perhaps some new first-party titles will be the reward for subscribers who adopt the platform early on.
A Timely Announcement from Amazon?
In a week where Stadia has potentially hammered the nail into its own coffin, with the closure of its game development studios, it seems timely that Jassy would jump in with a “we’d never do that” shout.
In emails to staff, Jassy said:
Some businesses take off in the first year, and others take many years. Though we haven’t consistently succeeded yet in AGS, I believe we will if we hang in there.
He followed up with:
Being successful right away is obviously less stressful, but when it takes longer, it’s often sweeter…
These comments are a stark contrast to those of Stadia’s Vice President, Phil Harrison. Stadia has thrown game development towel in, just over a year after the service launched.
Harrison seems to have missed the memo about game development being an expensive, time-consuming business that sometimes reaps more failure than it does success. Jassy, on the other hand, acknowledges what Harrison failed to, as he steps up as Amazon CEO.
All of this considered, this is positive news for Amazon Game Studios in several ways, given that one of its major rivals has imploded. Now it is up to Amazon Luna to be more than just a cloud gaming platform with third party ports of existing games.
What Does This Mean for Amazon Gaming?
We’ve already mentioned Amazon Luna. What we’re potentially witnessing here is Amazon’s intention to fill Stadia’s boots, now that Stadia won’t be developing first-party titles. Luna is the perfect vehicle through which to achieve this goal.
So, Jassy’s comments seem to pledge an investment in Amazon Luna, which would involve the development of first-party games, developed by Amazon Game Studios. Given Stadia’s current woes, Amazon may well capitalize on this announcement.
