Amazon needs to be split up, they've gotten too big of a company and because of their size are causing so many stores and other companies to lose business. Same with google, facebook and walmart. They need to be split up to smaller companies that actually compete with each other.
Because of amazon, toys r us, a bunch of clothing stores and even gamestop (as some examples) are all closing down because people are shopping online now and most of that is through amazon. That needs to stop and amazon needs to be forced to split into multiple businesses. Same with google who has a stranglehold on youtube, search engines and countless other things they invest in
Steam also is too big and needs to be split up, they have a stranglehold on the PC digital business. EPIC isn't much of a threat as their game list is tiny. But imagine if steam was forced to split into multiple store fronts...then that gives a huge competition in general for digital pc sales. It even gives sites like GOG a chance at a new life with possibly many new customers.
I don't think you can blame Gamestop's demise on Amazon. Steam, maybe. Mismanagement, definitely. Same with TRU. They bought up a bunch of shares, went into debt, and couldn't pay it off when kids became more interested in apps on their tablets/phones than actual toys. I won't say Amazon wasn't a factor, but if you're looking for a major cause look elsewhere.
I'm not sure breaking up Amazon will help or is even possible. Their whole thing is the economies of scale. They find something that makes a little money then ramp it up to crazy levels. Unless you're going to say "you do books and music", "you do other merchandise", it's going to be tough. Then you have all the other things Amazon does like their web services. No, making them accountable to the public is the best way to do it.
Walmart needs to go period. They engage in too much wage theft and treat their employees horribly. We all pay for it in the end whether or not we shop there.
Remember when people thought that Amazon Game Studios was the savior of MMORPG genre?
Heh
they did?
Yes on these very forums when Amazon first revealed their projects - it was all oohs and ahhs.
When I saw breakaway - I actually burst out in laughter- when I realized that it wasn't a joke but a real game they were working on, I immediately knew that they were so screwed.
A buddy of mine works for Amazon games - he is one of the Lumberyard engine developers. He is safe (not affected by layoffs)
then ask him waht they are smoking to think these games would be any good? new world I could see a niche for it though, the other one? nah
Engine developers dont have anything to do with game design, so what game teams end up creating has nothing to do with him - he wouldn't know, nor care, he just does server net code and that is all.
I don't know about you but you tend to know what happen with other offices close to yours, even more when you are part of the process of making such things
if he don't, I can guess one problem, and could explain the lay offs
Nothing. Just already a more polished and larger version of a survival game. And I hate survival games.
Survival is a flaw in and of itself. Bottom of the barrel game genre.
nope
kind of
Eh, some can. Others, like The Solus Project and Subnautica, contain definite narrative content that drives the player to not only survive, but continue exploring.
I agree the games that are like "here's a bunch of scenery, now just walk around looking at stuff while staying alive!" are pretty poor in that it seems like a bunch of really high-quality pages bound into a genuine leather cover containing nothing but a recitation of the alphabet. Not all survival games are so basic and seemingly pointless in the overall gameplay loop, though, and the genre seems to be waking up to the fact that such a basic loop won't do anymore.
When you look at all the projects they gave up on recently I stand by my theory from one year ago that AGS won't release a single game. They made a mistake right off the bat when they hired a bunch of leecher devs rather than people with real vision. Those devs had all the money/support in the world but decided to dig into their positions/paychecks instead of creating amazing games with all the resources at their fingertips. Unfortunately for us gamers Amazon was too clueless about gaming to know that those chodes played them like a fiddle. If those people weren't part of the 12 that were let go then that means they are getting rid of lower level devs first to keep their paychecks going as long as possible. I said it before that Amazon should take these individuals to court for sabotaging their studio right out of the gate.
Not great news to be sure. My guess is that they jumped full into this and are now realizing that this market can be pretty cutthroat. I would imagine that they will determine things on how New World does (which I'm looking forward to, so I'll do my best to keep them going)
Remember when people thought that Amazon Game Studios was the savior of MMORPG genre?
Heh
they did?
Yes on these very forums when Amazon first revealed their projects - it was all oohs and ahhs.
When I saw breakaway - I actually burst out in laughter- when I realized that it wasn't a joke but a real game they were working on, I immediately knew that they were so screwed.
A buddy of mine works for Amazon games - he is one of the Lumberyard engine developers. He is safe (not affected by layoffs)
then ask him waht they are smoking to think these games would be any good? new world I could see a niche for it though, the other one? nah
Engine developers dont have anything to do with game design, so what game teams end up creating has nothing to do with him - he wouldn't know, nor care, he just does server net code and that is all.
I don't know about you but you tend to know what happen with other offices close to yours, even more when you are part of the process of making such things
if he don't, I can guess one problem, and could explain the lay offs
It's not unusual for server net code dev to not care about game design.
Heck it's not unusual for them to not even play any video games.
The public would be surprised how many game devs dont play their own games after a while, its pretty crazy but its true, there is a significant % that only do it as a job.
Does a netcode developer have to care? I would say no.
I would bet there are other developers who don't need to play games, just need to be able to do their part.
Now, the people planning the actual "game" what people will do and how they do it, that's a different thing.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
A number of unannounced titles have been cancelled - so I don't think we can draw any conclusions about games we know about. Theories sure but nothing more than that until we hear more.
And they have done the same with the TV side as far as cancelling stuff that they deemed to be not making enough of an impact; their push continues though so I think its to early to say that they are shutting up shop as far as games go.
If you think Amazon is just some "Walmart" or "Costco" you need to peak your head out of of your woodland lodgings right quick. There's such a thing as Amazon Web Services. You should understand where that sits in the digital food chain.
There is a 3 company race to become the IRL Skynet and Amazon is right there in the running for top spot. If you knew how many upstart AI and deep learning companies are getting swallowed up by Amazon (as well as Google, Apple and Microsoft) it would freak you out.
"As far as the forum code of conduct, I would think it's a bit outdated and in need of a refre *CLOSED*"
This is what happens when people who know absolutely nothing about game development are in charge of hiring the game developers and project leaders, everyone knows 90% of project managers out there are just project managers because they know how to lie on their resumes.
Remember when people thought that Amazon Game Studios was the savior of MMORPG genre?
Heh
they did?
Yes on these very forums when Amazon first revealed their projects - it was all oohs and ahhs.
Not I (and probably not Wiz either but he hates everything.) I have always been skeptical about their apparent intention to develop games focusing on their Twitchabilty. That's always made me feel like they're developing with ulterior motives unrelated to the quality of the game and that seems ass backwards.
Twitch hits happen because a game is fun to play, gets a lot of high praise from players. typicaly surprising everyone, and then they become the next hot thing. You don't force that and trying to force it seems to be exactly what they have in mind.
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Amazon fails. I wonder if the higher ups really understood the costs or time involved with making a game. They have the money, but I'd be willing to bet they don't throw that money around willy-nilly. At least, it appears that they have the knowledge to get out when the financials go south.
@Iselin is right on with his forced twitchability take. Making a game to generate content for a video streaming service is incredibly daft. Just figure out a way to monetize cat videos, that would generate more revenue.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
They realized a business model based entirely on copying trends that happened 5 years ago and shilling them on twitch was a terrible idea. I hope.
You can't manufacture success before your product is......successful. It's working short term for the EAs and Activisions of the world. But their reputations are at an all time low. Along with consumer trust and retention. Not to mention pushing the limits of how much governments will tolerate. Regulation and government interference is looming because of it.
Absolute height of arrogance to think they (or any big money publisher) can "just show up" 5 years late and replicate an indie trend with minimal effort and expect a pay off.
What is wrong with New World. There is enough long that they have ended testing and brought the game back into development. The game for the most part is just another generic survival game and that is something we have so many of that another survival game will just not make it.
I hope once they are do redeveloping New World it will be something different then what it was. Hopefully they do not just cancel it and stop attempting to make games in the process.
Amazon needs to be split up, they've gotten too big of a company and because of their size are causing so many stores and other companies to lose business. Same with google, facebook and walmart. They need to be split up to smaller companies that actually compete with each other.
Because of amazon, toys r us, a bunch of clothing stores and even gamestop (as some examples) are all closing down because people are shopping online now and most of that is through amazon. That needs to stop and amazon needs to be forced to split into multiple businesses. Same with google who has a stranglehold on youtube, search engines and countless other things they invest in
Steam also is too big and needs to be split up, they have a stranglehold on the PC digital business. EPIC isn't much of a threat as their game list is tiny. But imagine if steam was forced to split into multiple store fronts...then that gives a huge competition in general for digital pc sales. It even gives sites like GOG a chance at a new life with possibly many new customers.
I love when someone counters big business with other business!
Comments
I don't think you can blame Gamestop's demise on Amazon. Steam, maybe. Mismanagement, definitely. Same with TRU. They bought up a bunch of shares, went into debt, and couldn't pay it off when kids became more interested in apps on their tablets/phones than actual toys. I won't say Amazon wasn't a factor, but if you're looking for a major cause look elsewhere.
I'm not sure breaking up Amazon will help or is even possible. Their whole thing is the economies of scale. They find something that makes a little money then ramp it up to crazy levels. Unless you're going to say "you do books and music", "you do other merchandise", it's going to be tough. Then you have all the other things Amazon does like their web services. No, making them accountable to the public is the best way to do it.
Walmart needs to go period. They engage in too much wage theft and treat their employees horribly. We all pay for it in the end whether or not we shop there.
I agree the games that are like "here's a bunch of scenery, now just walk around looking at stuff while staying alive!" are pretty poor in that it seems like a bunch of really high-quality pages bound into a genuine leather cover containing nothing but a recitation of the alphabet. Not all survival games are so basic and seemingly pointless in the overall gameplay loop, though, and the genre seems to be waking up to the fact that such a basic loop won't do anymore.
I self identify as a monkey.
Yeah...
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That's 60 days with pay to find new work within the huge, multi-silo'd company that is Amazon BEFORE getting packaged if they can't. Sucks that the projects were killed, but that deal doesn't sound so bad compared to other studios that put devs out in the cold without another word. 9626 openings for devs at the current count.... https://www.amazon.jobs/en/search?offset=0&result_limit=10&sort=relevant&category=software-development&distanceType=Mi&radius=24km&latitude=&longitude=&loc_group_id=&loc_query=&base_query=Software%20Development%20Engineer&city=&country=®ion=&county=&query_options=&
New players can get a welcome package and old/returning players can also get a welcome back package and 7 days free subscription time! Just click here to use my referral invitation
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
And they have done the same with the TV side as far as cancelling stuff that they deemed to be not making enough of an impact; their push continues though so I think its to early to say that they are shutting up shop as far as games go.
There is a 3 company race to become the IRL Skynet and Amazon is right there in the running for top spot. If you knew how many upstart AI and deep learning companies are getting swallowed up by Amazon (as well as Google, Apple and Microsoft) it would freak you out.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Twitch hits happen because a game is fun to play, gets a lot of high praise from players. typicaly surprising everyone, and then they become the next hot thing. You don't force that and trying to force it seems to be exactly what they have in mind.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
You can't manufacture success before your product is......successful. It's working short term for the EAs and Activisions of the world. But their reputations are at an all time low. Along with consumer trust and retention. Not to mention pushing the limits of how much governments will tolerate. Regulation and government interference is looming because of it.
Absolute height of arrogance to think they (or any big money publisher) can "just show up" 5 years late and replicate an indie trend with minimal effort and expect a pay off.
I hope once they are do redeveloping New World it will be something different then what it was. Hopefully they do not just cancel it and stop attempting to make games in the process.
I love when someone counters big business with other business!