Big Company, Bigger Opportunity - Amazon Steps Into Gaming

For those a little out of the loop, Amazon Gaming are set to release their first big title in the name of New World - a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game that had been set to release on PC in May, but was unfortunately delayed until August. It’s quite unknown whether or not this will ever see a port to the console platforms, given the genre of game it may not ultimately be a possibility, however it does open a pathway to potential future games from the big organisation.

Studios without a history in gaming typically don’t have the biggest success as the market as a whole is extremely competitive and also has a long history of requiring a lot of capital to develop without the guaranteed success needed to see a strong return - however with a company as large as Amazon being the bank, it does provide an opportunity that hasn’t really been seen before, a studio with a lot of money behind it that can afford to make the mistakes other studios wouldn’t survive in order to grow and develop the titles that they produce - and the New World title is certainly an expensive proving grounds. MMO’s are amongst the most expensive and difficult to develop - there’s a lot of work that goes into them, as well as the work needed to keep them afloat. If success can be found in this first big title then the lessons learned may be taken over to less ambitious endeavours.

The question is whether or not the interest in PC and console gaming is here to stay - mobile gaming seems to be the next big thing as the market continues to grow from strength to strength - online casinos are now hugely popular as those sites not blocked by gamstop are finding a growing audience amongst an older demographic with disposable income and puzzle games continue to capture the younger audience. With the mobile market growing, a lot of studios and developers are moving resources towards the development of games on this platform, and as the hardware continues to get better on our smartphones, so do the games that are available on them. Either way, this big title will be the first big test for Amazon Game studios and will present the organisation with new challenges, but they’re certainly equipped for it and in the coming months, the success or failure of this game will begin to be seen.