Amazon has all the money in the world. Why can't it make a good video game?

Amazon’s games have struggled to connect with the notoriously skeptical gaming audience, and it’s looking increasingly likely they never will. Here’s why.

[RaidenBlack]

Bezos is more interested in space exploration.

[peppeaccardo]

In my humble opinion, knowing a bit of Bezos' business acumen, the only thing that would come out of his games studio would be a AAA game as a service, with microtransactions, seasons passes and all the shenanigans that would make the initial investment profitable for the years to come. It will NOT be a single player story with an ending.
He could buy Santa Monica studio if he wants .... but why would he ?

[xHeavYx]

If Microsoft has taught me anything, it is that having all the money in the world doesn't guarantee having good games. You need people who understand the industry and are not too constrained with their individual vision.

[NecrumOddBoy]

Are you confusing Bezos with Elon Musk?

[Skate-AK]

Doubt it. Bezos owns Blue Origin. https://www.blueorigin.com/...

[nowitzki2004]

That is more important than gaming.

[Tapani]

He is interested in all profitable and growing businesses in the world + space travel. The reason he cannot make a good video game is very simple: you cannot buy inspiration. Artists won't create art for money, it is the process of creation they like.

[ZAF]

To be honest the gaming business needs more than money, look at microsoft for example not saying they never made a good game but they have a hard time delivering good content on Xbox unlike Sony and Nintendo that have been doing it for years, it takes people with great experience and passion for gaming in order to succeed.

[chrisx]

All of this.

[Double_O_Revan]

Exactly. Companies like Google and Amazon just see the profits the gaming market makes and want a piece of it. But what they don't want to do is take the time and effort it takes to develop great studios and great games. Their just in it for the quick buck.

[sprinterboy]

Google and apple want the nxt fortnite hit or Minecraft hit imo not the 200 team studio spending 100million on a single player only game which might bomb or only sell 3/5m.

[Elda]

Exactly.

[Seraphim]

yep, it takes talented people along with money. Not to mention great ideas, leaders, execution, etc, etc. You can throw 500 million into something and end up coming out with a polished turd. And let's not forget Amazon Games Studios was created what, w/in the past 5 years? It takes time, even with money, for the ball to roll. Even with, hypothetically, all the money in the world thrown at a project it still takes time. Be it 2, 3 or 5+ years. Almost every phenomenal game has taken 3-5 years to develop.

As for Amazons case. I think their focus is in the wrong place. What few projects I have seen of theirs just don't seem all that interesting. I did see tonight [Arekkz on youtube] that Amazon signed a deal to bring over a Korean game called Lost Ark to the West. My first concern is whether or not it'll see a console release as I'd imagine it's a PC game but I honestly have no clue. The game itself looks pretty solid. But that's not an Amazon game.

imo they need to hunker down, create a Diablo-esque game, a 3rd person Action/Adventure, maybe even something Soulsbourne like. Work on some core genres that have the potential to gain the interest of many. At the same time just creating it doesn't do anything. It has to have a great team of developers who are interested in, a solid narrative, solid level/world design, interesting enemies, etc and something of the utmost importance, a great and interesting looking lead. A Kratos, Lara Croft, Nathan Drake, Alloy,

[Baza]

Yep it takes very talented people (limited quantity) and passion at the executive level, putting making quality games first. Not how do we make money!

[rainslacker]

Exactly. The desire to make a good game, and not just some focus tested commercial product packaged as a game is more important than money. Relatively speaking, the cost to make a game isn't really all that much, and investment is a drop in the bucket for those who have that kind of money to invest in gaming to begin with. But when they try to make something that will just return a butt load of money, but has no soul, it falls flat, or they make their game too heavily focused on trends, instead of just thinking about what makes a good game.

Same thing has happened to Hollywood, and it went down the crapper as well.

[Onomoki]

Hahaha, great take Raiden! I agree with you also Zaf - it´s a shame Crucible turned out the way it did! Thanks for maintaining and keeping the pending section alive! Oh, also - if you wouldn´t mind - i just need one more approval on my Atomicrops review. I would appreciate greatly if you could take a quick look at it, and see if it´s up to snuff. I really want to get my review out there - because it is such a hidden gem!

[RedDeadLB]

I'm pretty sure you need to care about something for it to be good.

[LoveSpuds]

Worst company on the planet! Treat their staff like shit, killed the retail sector here in the UK, yet never pay a penny in taxes.

The got into gaming for the wrong reasons, just like Microsoft, they dont care about the industry per se, they merely want to profit from it.

[sprinterboy]

Yeah amazon just want the nxt Minecraft or fortnite killer nothing more.
I went for training day at amazon a few years ago and made it to 1st break time and immediately got into the car and fucked off haha.
Disgusting place how they treated the staff and that was evident in about 2 hrs of being there.

[THC CELL]

Says same about halo a half a billion and 5 yrs project
Looks doa

We could say same about Microsoft 2 good games a decade and there not new gears and Forza move on

[MadLad]

I rarely point it out, but your grammar is atrocious.

Anyway, MS isn't nearly as bad at releasing titles as you make them out to be. Sure, they've stuck to their basics this gen, and I would have liked to see more from them but, having gamepass on PC, I enjoyed games like Recore and Sunset Overdrive.
It's awesome playing updated versions of Halo. Gears 4 has been great, as is Tactics. I'm looking forward to playing 5 after. Horizon, in my opinion, is the best racing series available.

I'm still looking forward to infinite, whether or not the graphics aren't the nicest to be had. They're also implementing raytracing, which will bump the overall visuals quite a bit.

With them now owning personal favorites like Obsidian and Ninja Theory, I'm excited at what has been seen so far. I'm also counting down the days for Wasteland 3 to launch.

[Elda]

Have you thought that there's a possibility that maybe English is not this person's first language?

[devind]

I'm fairly certain most stopped reading after "..but your grammar is atrocious."

[StarLink]

Nope but keep trying you'll get there.

[Bathyj]

Is that what good games are made out of? Money?

[Elda]

You have to want it first & foremost & it's evident they do want it or care about it nor is it a priority to them.

[raiden_188]

They need to hire the right people I guess to make something worth peoples time and money.

[MadLad]

Don't get into markets of which you have no idea what you're doing.

[Atticus_finch]

Now tell Microsoft.

[MadLad]

*checks the financials on their gaming division*

I feel they're doing fine.

[Atticus_finch]

That doesn't change their gaming output. After throwing money for years their performance is still lacking and still put to shame by the competition.

[Rimeskeem]

Gaming was created from passion and drive. Every game has a reason for being made besides to sell it. Sometimes those reasons are more explicit and other times devs get a wisp of influence that leads to a pet project. But to throw money at something and tell them to make it is a lot like making a high school student read a book and write about an argument they dont care for. Sure, some devs will find ways to make it interesting and ways to add their own twist or get passionate about it. But many devs just wanna get the paycheck (grade in highschool) at the end of the day if they cant find passion for the project.

[mkis007]

Money can't buy passion. Heck passion doesn't always make a good game.

[glennhkboy]

This question also applied to Apple: why can't Apple make a good video game? I think one of the answer maybe their corporate priority. Both Apple & Amazon don't see game as their main focus (as of lately, we suspect Apple may even view games as a nuisance.....). Looking back at Microsoft, once the richest company in the world, had a hard time creak ing into gaming & the return is minimal even today. So there is no incentive for Amazon to increase their investment in games.

[sprinterboy]

They need to know there market also, are they making GaaS games for casuals, traditional SP games ie GoW/spiderman for the hardcore gamer or do they want a fortnite killer for casuals?
If you try and mix all that into one with loot boxes etc then it's a disaster.
Also don't treat gamers like we're dumb m, virgin nerds.

[MightyHealthy]

apple has a lot of money too, and they failed at making a car.

[Rhythmattic]

Because good games cost a large investment ?
Probably why bezerker has all the money.......

[Darkborn]

I'm still frightened someone like Amazon will buy up Warner Brothers or something to that effect. Something like that would be terrible.

[DethWish]

Its not about money, its about management. "The mythical man month".

[franwex]

I’m surprised they haven’t come out with an Amazon console or added game streaming to Prime yet.

[NealGamby]

Simple answer is because they are interested in making more money. They make cheap games with micro transactions that their business advisors tell them would gain the largest profit margin. They don't care if it's a bad game, they just want it to hit a target number in sales. Low investment, high yield.

Like someone else said below, You would need to care about a game for it to be good.

[Deeloc]

Well just buy Sony n problem solve

[zoks310]

Ask xbox😂😂😂 ;

[RgR]

Because gaming is an art form not a business.
If you focus on the business side of gaming, which is what they want, then they get crap all.
If they focus on the gaming aspect then they could make a good game.