At first glance, last night's King of Meat presentation doesn't seem to fit with Amazon's gaming strategy so far.
While it was already known that the publisher had signed the next title from British developer Glowmade, the team behind King of Meat, most of Amazon's efforts since it announced its move to PC and consoles in 2014 have been more aimed at hardcore gamers, and particularly MMO fans.
The company attempted to tap into this audience with the multiplayer fighting game Breakaway (cancelled in 2018) and the team-based shooter Crucible (discontinued in 2020). Amazon has had much more success with its two recent MMOs (2021’s New World and 2022’s Lost Ark) and is preparing a second attempt at a Lord of the Rings MMO.
So where does a co-op dungeon crawler with a cartoonish feel and a focus on user-generated levels fit into Amazon's plans?
“Our strategy has always been to develop and publish games of the highest quality,” explains Jon Rosenblatt, EMEA Publishing Director. Gaming Industry.biz“We're not set on just being MMOs. As you'll see with the recent announcement of Maverick and obviously Crystal Dynamics for Tomb Raider, plus the MOBA that's being made in our Montreal studio, we're actually diversifying our portfolio pretty quickly and we want to continue to do that.
“It's really important to us to keep creating amazing games, but also to make sure the games have a diverse look and feel. King of Meat was an ideal opportunity to work with a very talented team in Guildford and grow the game into something much bigger than they perhaps had planned.”
Rosenblatt adds that Amazon is looking to branch out from PC and have a bigger presence on consoles; King of Meat will be the company’s first release on PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch, followed by a console version of New World for Sony and Microsoft platforms later this year.
“We don't necessarily focus on genres or regions. When we see the right game at the right time, we want to have the opportunity to sign it.”
Jon Rosenblatt, Amazon Games
When it comes to what Amazon is looking for as it diversifies its gaming lineup, the company appears to be taking a more open-ended approach. Rosenblatt says the three pillars his team is looking for are solid, interesting technology, a creative team, and IP that shows growth potential — but beyond this, there’s no Amazon wish list when it comes to genres, target audiences, etc.
“You know it when you see it,” he laughs. “We don’t necessarily focus on genres, we don’t necessarily focus on regions, although obviously my remit is to really grow our European talent. We just feel that when we see the right game at the right time, we want to have the opportunity to sign them.”
“We're not going to have an Amazon games image, that looks like an Amazon game. We just want our customers to have fun with our games.”
The Amazon team is in Cologne this week for Gamescom, and Rosenblatt reports that its schedule for the three working days is “absolutely packed” with a variety of potential signings. While Amazon’s name (and no doubt its equity) is a key draw, the publishing director says there has been a noticeable uptick in proposals since the company’s two MMOs proved to be a hit.
“We’ve seen triple-digit growth in requests from developers wanting to meet with us after Lost Ark and New World,” he explains. “What we saw in our conversations – particularly with Mike Brown and the Maverick team – is that one of the opportunities and advantages that Amazon has is not only that we’re a global games publisher, but that we can offer so much more to the customers of those games.
“Whether it's through Prime Gaming, Prime Video and the opportunity for some kind of transmedia, whether it's through working with AWS or Amazon Music… I think a lot of developers now look at us and say, 'Well, okay, we know you can make and publish great games, your marketing and your back end and all your teams are working at an extremely high level. We want to develop this IP. Amazon can do so much more than a lot of others. ' And that's one of the reasons why I think we're so attractive to developers.”
Amazon and Glowmade first announced their partnership in 2021, but despite working together for three years, King of Meat’s presentation didn’t include a release date. This is partly because Amazon is willing to give the developers it works with more time to make sure their games are actually ready for release.
“We’re fortunate that we’re not subject to tax liabilities like some game developers,” Rosenblatt explains. “What Amazon wants us to do and what Christoph (Hartmann, vice president of Amazon Games) wants us to do is make sure that when we’re developing a game, whether it’s internally or with their external partners, that we give them the time and space to do the things that they think will make a difference. If that means a couple of months or a quarter more, which can make a difference, then we can do that and I think that’s really important to us.”
“It may have taken us a long time to get to where we are with New World and Lost Ark, and we obviously have two releases coming out later this year, but you're going to start to see this kind of diverse portfolio of quality games. We really want to make sure that we're giving Crystal Dynamics, Maverick and all of our teams the time they need to create amazing, engaging experiences.”