Unsurprisingly, Amazon has struggled to make its breakthrough in the video game industry, but a recent Bloomberg article takes a closer look at the years’ effort and offers an insight from previous and current Amazon Studios developers on the mistakes that led to their continuous struggles.
Throughout history, one factor seems to consistently lead to the struggle in almost every element of its game development expansion: an incompatibility between Amazon’s own constant management style and what works best for game developers.
History shows how leadership at Amazon often pulls the mat from its development teams in situations ranging from poorly prioritized design goals based on trend games from other competitors, sexist and racist tendencies in the workplace, and unfamiliarity with the game development process to list a few.
Many of the compelling tales in Bloomberg’s conversation with more than 30 developers at Amazon Studios mention management issues with longtime Amazon executive and studio VP Mike Frazzini, from moments when Frazzini’s unfamiliarity with video game production hindered projects and an unwillingness to hear comments from developers hired as Amazon experts.
In an example from Amazon Studio developers, the leadership resisted criticism that their game New world, or Roanoke as it was codified in development, it can be seen as racist due to the use of colonialism and enemies who borrowed images from American Indians. It was necessary for Amazon to bring in a tribal consultant for the screams of racism to be recognized.
Bloomberg points out that problems with sexism in the workplace is one of the few ways in which Amazon Studios resembles other key players in the gaming industry.
Women in the studio reported occasions when they were totally ignored during meetings in favor of comments from men in the company, or occasions when they faced professional retaliation for talking about the problems.
The full story at Bloomberg captures more stories for Amazon Studios developers and addresses Amazon’s launch (and deinitialization) Crucible as well as the many issues that arose from the leadership decree that developers create and use exclusively Lumberyard, Amazon’s game engine, for creating their games.