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Amazon Lays Off 'Dozens' of Developers & Cancels Unannounced Games - MMORPG.com News

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  • p4ttythep3rf3ctp4ttythep3rf3ct Member UncommonPosts: 194
    Hard to tell what's what in that graph, other than overall, it's down.  VR is up, for example. Console looks barely affected.  Honestly, it looks like a little drop in all platforms other than VR and Arcade.

    New World from Amazon mayyy become something, but I found it really boring and uninstalled it yesterday (haven't played it in a month or two).  That said, for an Alpha, it was really polished and the environ was well done.

    That's just, like, my opinion, man.

  • mandark91mandark91 Member UncommonPosts: 58
    Honestly I am happy. They promised an MMORPG and did a survival game.
  • DarkEvilHatredDarkEvilHatred Member UncommonPosts: 229
    edited June 2019
    Aeander said:
    SlyLoK said:
    trikery said:
    What's wrong with New World?
    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.
    You've obviously never played "The Long Dark"

    And just because survival games aren't your forte, don't throw the whole category into the fire. They are the top grossing games out there right now.
    JeffSpicoli
  • illutianillutian Member UncommonPosts: 343
    edited June 2019
    Honestly, they should shutter the game creation and stick with game development tools...like Lumberyard. Which is pretty amazing having played a certain game. 'High' settings and the game ran pretty smooth.

    ...it's like Crytek's (literally), but better!

    Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising everytime we fall.

  • RazimusRazimus Member UncommonPosts: 128
    edited June 2019

    SlyLoK said:


    trikery said:

    What's wrong with New World?


    Nothing. Just already a more polished and larger version of a survival game. And I hate survival games.



    Is this "I hate survival games" a meme? Some type of hive minded thing? Every single time I've read this opinion it always seems to be the exact same copy and paste quote.

    I love survival games. I LOVE SURVIVAL GAMES. Personally I seek out and look for PVP Survival Games, specifically, so some love the genre, btw, we exist.
    Aeander

    --- Razimus

  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    gervaise1 said:
    DMKano said:
    Scot said:
    And remember guys the gaming industry is doing amazingly well! There is a lot of money swilling around, but that doesn't mean there are not deep seated issues.
    Actually this is the first year since 2000 that shows a downturn in sales - so there is without a doubt a real problem.

    https://wolfstreet.com/2019/03/13/video-game-industry-stalls-stocks-plunge-whats-going-on/



    Obviously the end of the year is not here yet but the current projections are all showing a decline in sales for the first time since 2000
    Technically a downturn in estimated sales.

    Not just the 2019 number is an estimate but the numbers for all other years as well - data for lots of companies and countries is simply not available. And then there are (big) companies that don't break out the numbers. 

    The estimated trend though could influence decisions though e.g. whether a company plays safe in its design decisions; whether games get the go-ahead etc.

    Interesting graph.
    Hard to say how much data supports the graph; the insurance industry has entities that collect data from individual companies and collates it into industry trends much like the graph Kano cited, even where that data isn't made publicly available by the companies themselves.  I don't see why other industries would include the same.  2019 is inherently estimated as we're only halfway through it.  There could be far more hard data going into that graph than would be available publicly from the individual participants.

    EDIT- seeing similar numbers from another source would give it a bit more cred.
    As you say hard to know how much data supports the graph - especially as it is giving worldwide totals and the industry has a myriad of small developers. I believe that any e.g. insurance numbers would be "regional".

    That said if we assume that every year is an estimate if each year has been put together "in the same way, using the same sources" then the downturn is probably real. The caveat would be is some brand new X has come along that hasn't been picked up but I think we would be aware of that.

    And @Iselin 's pont about mobile is a good one; I am a little wary about the VR "trend" as well. I remember Superdata a couple of years ago giving almost monthly downward revisions of its estimates; which shows how "difficult" it can be to come up with such graphs. 

    Key message: take any numbers with a large grain of salt; don't treat them as absolute. The decline though - could be right.
    MadFrenchie
  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    mandark91 said:
    Honestly I am happy. They promised an MMORPG and did a survival game.
    I assume you are talking about New World?

    If so: this news is about unannounced games; we can speculate about NW but that is it.

    Pretty sure AWS never "promised" an mmorpg nor have they said its a survival game.

    What we have seen so far was initially what some called a running simulator; then something that looked - sort of - like a survival game ... but with other bits. Early WoW could have been called "a survivak game" - before all the rest got added.

    Which is not to say NW hasn't been closed. Or that it will release as a survival game. Simply that we don't know.
    [Deleted User]
  • Dr_BinksDr_Binks Member UncommonPosts: 271
    Amazon is a company that is use to making high margins and making money fast with low expenses. The gaming industry on the other had has high expenses and in most cases will not start to see any income on a project for many years. This does not sit well with the powers to be with in Amazon.

    I'm sure that after seeing the luke warm reception of New World and Crucible and looking at the expense to date that they are having a change of heart and are re-thinking their venture into the gaming industry.

    Although New World is polished and looks pretty good Amazon really hurt themselves early on by saying it was going to be an open world mmo with a survival twist. Now that a lot of us have tried New World we can see that it's just another Survival game with open world full loot PVP. Both of these factors turn off a lot of people who want to play MMO. Sure they can call it a MMO because it is online with massively multiplayer open ended BUT it's still just a survival game with full loot PVP.

    Anyway it would not surprise me if this is just the start of what to come.
    Mendel
  • gervaise1gervaise1 Member EpicPosts: 6,919
    gervaise1 said:

    EDIT- seeing similar numbers from another source would give it a bit more cred.
    You ask and @SuzieFord answers. Such power!

    The US Barely Overtakes China as the Largest Games Revenue Market for 2019


    Firstly: both graphs are estimates. Can't stress this enough. So many people see these types of graph and go on to predict huge success or the imminent doom of companies / games x, y and z.

    Secondly: when it comes to doing comparisons the labels console, mobile etc. may not be 100% identical. Especially with the rise of multi-platform games.

    One thing that jumps out: one projects a downturn, the other an increase. And the top level values for PC, Console etc. are different.

    Intellectually I am sure that one could delve into these - and doubtless other - projections. Its tough to get excited on an individual how does this impact my day to day gaming experience though.

    MadFrenchie
  • NorseGodNorseGod Member EpicPosts: 2,654
    Iselin said:
    Konan said:
    people get laid off all the time so no big worries
    Except when it's you, you have a baby on the way and you just bought a new house.
    Do you still use Myspace.com?
    Iselin
    To talk about games without the censorship, check out https://www.reddit.com/r/MMORPG/
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    NorseGod said:
    Iselin said:
    Konan said:
    people get laid off all the time so no big worries
    Except when it's you, you have a baby on the way and you just bought a new house.
    Do you still use Myspace.com?
    Sorry I'm sober so that makes absolutely no fucking sense.
    "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

  • PhaserlightPhaserlight Member EpicPosts: 3,078
    Iselin said:
    gervaise1 said:
    DMKano said:
    Scot said:
    And remember guys the gaming industry is doing amazingly well! There is a lot of money swilling around, but that doesn't mean there are not deep seated issues.
    Actually this is the first year since 2000 that shows a downturn in sales - so there is without a doubt a real problem.

    https://wolfstreet.com/2019/03/13/video-game-industry-stalls-stocks-plunge-whats-going-on/



    Obviously the end of the year is not here yet but the current projections are all showing a decline in sales for the first time since 2000
    Technically a downturn in estimated sales.

    Not just the 2019 number is an estimate but the numbers for all other years as well - data for lots of companies and countries is simply not available. And then there are (big) companies that don't break out the numbers. 

    The estimated trend though could influence decisions though e.g. whether a company plays safe in its design decisions; whether games get the go-ahead etc.

    Interesting graph.
    The most interesting part to me is that there was a mobile market in 2000 since "handheld" is its own separate category. Who the heck was selling and buying "mobile" games on Motorola flip phones? :)


    "Snake" was kind of fun!

    "The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
    Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance

  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505
    edited June 2019
    gervaise1 said:
    gervaise1 said:

    EDIT- seeing similar numbers from another source would give it a bit more cred.
    You ask and @SuzieFord answers. Such power!

    The US Barely Overtakes China as the Largest Games Revenue Market for 2019


    Firstly: both graphs are estimates. Can't stress this enough. So many people see these types of graph and go on to predict huge success or the imminent doom of companies / games x, y and z.

    Secondly: when it comes to doing comparisons the labels console, mobile etc. may not be 100% identical. Especially with the rise of multi-platform games.

    One thing that jumps out: one projects a downturn, the other an increase. And the top level values for PC, Console etc. are different.

    Intellectually I am sure that one could delve into these - and doubtless other - projections. Its tough to get excited on an individual how does this impact my day to day gaming experience though.

    What, you mean having specific, clear definitions with which to group games IS actually useful for real world problem solving and insight?  Funny that. :D

    Mobile can be tricky to define.  I've seen it include handhelds in some infographics on the industry, other times handheld consoles are a separate group.  Thanks for sharing!  As you say, it's really tough to make any concrete predictions, even if the graphs tracked closely, it isn't a mandate on the industry's future.  One little title like WoW right after release can completely upset the balance.
    gervaise1

    image
  • AmatheAmathe Member LegendaryPosts: 7,630
    SBFord said:
    Well....that's not good. Wonder if Smedley's bunch got hit? Nothing on his Twitter yet so maybe not?
    He wanted to post on Twitter but some Finnish kid stopped him. Bazinga!  I went there. 

    EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests

  • PhaserlightPhaserlight Member EpicPosts: 3,078
    wow look at the mobile on DMKanos graph! It sucks that so many players are going for that garbage.
    It's... not all garbage.  We've come a long way since Cut The Rope (which is decidedly not garbage).  Google Play has a 'revered indie fare' section that has pretty creative offerings, and my favorite video game ever has been running on mobile since 2010.

    "The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
    Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance

  • PhaserlightPhaserlight Member EpicPosts: 3,078
    Hard to tell what's what in that graph, other than overall, it's down.  VR is up, for example. Console looks barely affected.  Honestly, it looks like a little drop in all platforms other than VR and Arcade.

    New World from Amazon mayyy become something, but I found it really boring and uninstalled it yesterday (haven't played it in a month or two).  That said, for an Alpha, it was really polished and the environ was well done.
    Estimated it may be, but it's interesting to see VR's market share increase on a downturned market.

    "The simple is the seal of the true and beauty is the splendor of truth" -Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
    Authored 139 missions in Vendetta Online and 6 tracks in Distance

  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    Iselin said:
    gervaise1 said:
    DMKano said:
    Scot said:
    And remember guys the gaming industry is doing amazingly well! There is a lot of money swilling around, but that doesn't mean there are not deep seated issues.
    Actually this is the first year since 2000 that shows a downturn in sales - so there is without a doubt a real problem.

    https://wolfstreet.com/2019/03/13/video-game-industry-stalls-stocks-plunge-whats-going-on/



    Obviously the end of the year is not here yet but the current projections are all showing a decline in sales for the first time since 2000
    Technically a downturn in estimated sales.

    Not just the 2019 number is an estimate but the numbers for all other years as well - data for lots of companies and countries is simply not available. And then there are (big) companies that don't break out the numbers. 

    The estimated trend though could influence decisions though e.g. whether a company plays safe in its design decisions; whether games get the go-ahead etc.

    Interesting graph.
    The most interesting part to me is that there was a mobile market in 2000 since "handheld" is its own separate category. Who the heck was selling and buying "mobile" games on Motorola flip phones? :)


    "Snake" was kind of fun!
    You got me. I don't remember that. What I remember of 2000 in the way of smart phones were Blackberries and a few tech nerds like me with either a Windows phone or one based around Palm. I remember reading a couple of ebooks on mine when I was travelling but I have no memory of playing any games on it except maybe Solitaire which came with Windows mobile.

    I don't remember any kind of mobile gaming market until much later in 2007 when the iPhone came out. That part of the graph made no sense to me.
    Phaserlight
    "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

  • SlyLoKSlyLoK Member RarePosts: 2,698
    There were a few handheld phone devices back then that tried to be a game device as well. They were not very popular and they failed if I recall. Not sure if that graph used those for numbers or not.
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