Amazon has stayed persistent in its quest to be a successful game developer despite multiple setbacks, and on Tuesday, CEO Andy Jassy gave some insight into why.
Speaking at a Geekwire technology conference, Jassy said that gaming could become the entertainment industry’s largest category.
The retail and tech giant seems to have finally produced a popular title with last week’s release of “New World.” On Tuesday, the open-world game had 662,000 concurrent players on Steam.
- Amazon already has a strong foothold in the gaming world through Twitch, the gaming-focused streaming platform it acquired in 2014 for $970 million. Twitch made around $2.3 billion in revenue in 2020.
- Amazon is spending around $500 million annually on its gaming division.
- “My personal goal is to create two-to-three AAA, live-service games, which capture millions of players and stay in the market for 10-plus years,” Amazon Games VP Chris Hartmann told the Verge.
The company is still taking a diverse approach to media, holding broadcasting rights to “Thursday Night Football,” the Premier League, WNBA, and Ligue 1, as well as making a renewed push into fitness and wearables.
Amazon is believed to be a leading contender for the rights to the NFL’s “Sunday Ticket.”
