The pinnacle of Amazon Game Studios, Christoph Hartmann, is parting methods with the corporate amidst layoffs which have lower round 16,000 jobs throughout Amazon. The transfer comes as Amazon winds down its gaming ambitions, shifting focus to its cloud gaming service Luna.
Hartmann’s departure was reported by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, on the identical day as Amazon introduced an enormous spherical of layoffs that can impression round 16,000 folks company-wide. The transfer follows a earlier spherical of layoffs final October that lower 14,000 jobs, hitting Amazon Game Studios significantly laborious as the corporate scaled again its AAA growth tasks.
Christoph Hartmann has an extended historical past within the video games business, from engaged on the unique Grand Theft Auto to co-founding 2K Video games within the early 2000s, and he was introduced on board by Amazon Video games in 2018. Extra lately, Hartmann could also be extra infamous for saying that AI would not take jobs in video games as they “do not actually have appearing.”
Regardless of Amazon’s enormous assets, the corporate has largely didn’t make an impression on the video games business. Its first main recreation undertaking Crucible was a notable failure, making the bizarre determination to maneuver from full launch again into closed beta, earlier than being cancelled for good. Whereas Amazon Video games has seen some success with MMOs, together with publishing Korean MMOs Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty within the west in addition to its personal undertaking New World, participant numbers have dwindled through the years and New World shall be shut down for good on the finish of January 2027. A deliberate Lord of the Rings MMO–Amazon’s second try at one–also seems to be lifeless within the water after October’s layoffs.
Amazon continues to be publishing upcoming Tomb Raider titles Legacy of Atlantis and Catalyst, however its main gaming focus will transfer to informal get together video games for its cloud gaming service Luna. We obtained our first take a look at the path of Amazon Video games’ pivot final October, with AI-powered get together recreation Courtroom Chaos: Starring Snoop Dogg.