Amazon is investing in games, that much is obvious, but what does that mean? And what does Amazon have planned for the future? Yesterday I appeared on Good Game’s new online show Good Game Pocket to discuss the possibilities.
I have a couple of thoughts about it. The first is this: it’s becoming increasingly clear that all these major tech companies — Google, Facebook, Amazon — see something in gaming, something that might be beyond how we generally think and talk about ‘games’. My gut instinct is that the idea of games permeating every aspect of our life — be it social, work, entertainment — that’s the opportunity these guys want to be a part of, Amazon included. I don’t think this necessarily means Amazon will be making video games as we currently understand them — they’re not gonna make Call of Duty, that’s for sure.
My second thought is that Amazon is always expanding. That’s the nature of the beast. They’re notorious for spending every cent they make on developing the business, so this could just be a reflection of that: an avenue they’ve not yet explored that piques their interest. There might not even be a grand plan. It might be a play it by ear thing.
Lastly, the fact they’re setting up studios and hiring talent like Kim Swift and Clint Hocking is the real outlier. These are two talented developers with name-value. They don’t have to be at Amazon but they are. Whatever they’re working on, it has to be interesting. You would think?
Any thoughts?
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