Now that the coronavirus has brought the entertainment industry to a halt, media outlets have changed their opinions regarding video games. Games like Animal Crossing are now the saviors of our quarantine. With all of the gaming giants making their mark, it makes sense for retail to do it as well, which brings us to Amazon.
According to 9To5Toys, the retail corporation is planning on releasing their very first major video games on early May. An article from the New York Times states that the first game is going to be called Crucible. The game is described as science fiction that resembles the Borderland series.
A Whole New World For Amazon
While Crucible will be a third person shooting game, another new Amazon game is New World, a multiplayer online fantasy game. Business Insider argues that the game is set during a version of 17th-century British America, where the theme is Survival of the Fittest since the article says that players can “strike out alone to forge your own heroic path, or band together, fortify, and fight.” Nevertheless, despite the game not being out yet, it’s already receiving criticism for its neo-colonial subplot.
Project Tempo
Aside from Crucible and New World, Amazon isn’t stopping anytime soon. In fact, they are planning on also releasing Project Tempo. According to The Next Web, Project Tempo is the chosen name for Amazon’s newest (soon to be) cloud-based gaming service. While delayed by the coronavirus outbreak, it is intended to compete with Google and Microsoft. Not much is known about the service besides its name. What we do know is that Amazon has taken advantage of the gaming movement. This is best seen when writer Rachel Kaser states that Mike Frazzini, Amazon‘s VP of gaming, said:
“It was very clear to everyone that people, customers, love video games. It was so obviously important to customers that we need to be doing something.”
What Now?
Aside from Amazon’s main strides in the gaming community, The New York Times report also explains that the company is also working on new casual games for the streaming service known as Twitch, popular for allowing broadcasters play the game as viewers watch simultaneously in real time. The whole movement is described as the most important investment in “original entertainment” since Amazon became a giant source of streaming series and films in the last ten years.
The gaming industry is allegedly expected to create about $160 billion in revenue in 2020. This would make the business expand and become greater than the combination of the music industry—which makes around $19 billion—and the film box office industry, which makes around $43 billion.
In addition, aside from making the industry a fortune, Amazon is also going to increase the gamers’ popularity. According to The Economist, sports fans are turning to video game contests due to the shutdowns. No, it’s not the same, but these kinds of games introduce fans to a world where strategy is important. The lines that divide the athletic with the sedentary are getting blurry, who knows? perhaps this is the moment in which children might be inspired to become future gamers. Logically, Amazon wants to be part of this movement. You can find more about Amazon Games through here.
