Bloomberg examines Amazon’s infighting to get its infighting to get its gaming division off the ground
The video game division at Amazon has struggled to take off, and a Bloomberg report indicates how much has been spent trying to make it happen.
Two sources familiar with Amazon’s budget told Bloomberg that the tech giant is spending “nearly $ 500 million a year” operating the video game division.
This figure does not include Twitch, the streaming service that Amazon purchased in 2014, or its Amazon Luna cloud streaming service.
Amazon has brought in several video game veterans since the first setup of its development operation, including Portal designer Kim Swift and Far Cry 2 director Clint Hocking, none of whom are still with the company.
The Bloomberg report details issues within Amazon, including lack of incentives, difficulties with its Lumberyard engine and an internal “brother culture” in which women did not have the same opportunities as their male counterparts, according to interviews with more than 30 current employees and former Amazon employees.
Amazon’s efforts to launch a game include canceling several projects, including the fantasy sports game Breakaway and, recently, the hero shooting game Crucible.
His New World MMORPG was delayed in 2020 and is currently scheduled to air this spring.