Amazon is continuing its venture into the world of video gaming. While the most recent attempt of launching their own title didn’t go exactly as planned, the company isn’t letting that spoil further ventures in the gaming industry. Amazon has announced that they have opened brand new video game studio, located in Montreal, Canada. The studio joins a seemingly growing list of proprietary developers, which already includes Seattle, Orange County, and San Diego. According to Amazon, this new studio will be led by former developers of Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege, and will be focusing on “original AAA games.”
According to the company, the Montreal studio’s first project will be “an online multiplayer title based on new IP.” One of the studio’s founders, new Creative Director Xavier Marquis, stated that “Building upon 8 years of experience with Siege, we are excited to start with a blank page and the creative freedom to create a completely unique experience in the multiplayer space.” Considering the type of talent that Amazon is bringing in for this new endeavor, it’s not a huge surprise to see them going in this direction for the new studio.
As we already mentioned, this isn’t Amazon’s first time trying to make a name for themselves in the video game industry. The company announced its first major online AAA title at The Game Awards 2019, New World, which has a scheduled release date for August 31, 2021. While we’re still waiting on more information for that game, it’s their most recent project, Crucible, that unfortunately failed to make a splash in the market.
The title had a very ambitious undertaking, and when it launched on May 20, 2020, it was clear that it needed a lot more work and was rescinded to beta status just little more than a month later. Despite numerous attempts to revive and relaunch it, Amazon made the decision to permanently shelve the project, ending development permanently. As we can see, these setbacks have not deterred Amazon in the slightest. It will be interesting to see how this new project goes, and hopefully, we’ll find out more about it sooner than later.