Amazon Game Studios boss Mike Frazzini has decided to leave the video game division of the e-commerce giant, which he helped build.
Amazon spokesman Ryan Jones said in a statement that Mike Frazzini is no longer the senior head of Amazon Game Studios: “He was there from the start, and his leadership and perseverance made it possible to create the video game industry from the ground up.”Our recent successes with New World and Lost Ark are the result of the long-term, customer-focused vision he helped create for this business. We are very grateful to him for all his contributions and wish him all the best in his future career. ”
While the former executive told employees he was leaving to focus on his family, he was repeatedly criticized by some employees for his lack of experience in the video game industry as well as poor leadership. Formerly in the books department, Mike Frazzini underestimated the level of engagement required in a medium like video games. An issue related to the philosophy of Amazon, a company that often assumes that if you can excel in one category, you can excel in another.
Amazon, the real future in video games?
After canceling or even removing games in various stages of development (Breakaway, Crucible, The Lord of the Rings MMO), Amazon hit big this fall with the release of New World. Andy Jassi, chief executive of Amazon, said games could become the company’s biggest entertainment category. Former Amazon boss Jeff Bezos also chimed in on social media, pointing out, “After many setbacks and setbacks in the gaming space, we have success. Don’t give up, even if it gets hard. ”
After a big debut, New World’s success began to wane. At the end of September 2021, it had 913,000 concurrent players, and today, according to Steamcharts, there are about 26,500. However, Lost Ark is a hit in the West thanks to Amazon tracking at least ten million players from North America, Europe, South America and Australia out of 20 million PC players worldwide.