Amazon Games open new studio led by former Rainbow Six Siege developers
Working on a new online multiplayer game
Amazon haven't had the best of luck breaking into the world of online multiplayer games so far, what with Crucible being a bit of a disaster. But now they've opened a new studio Montreal, and hired a bunch of ex-Rainbow Six Siege developers to lead it, including the former creative director. Which, dare I say, sounds promising. They'll be working on "original AAA games", with their first project being a new online multiplayer game.
Siege's former production director Luc Bouchard, creative director Xavier Marquis, product director Alexandre Remy, and content director Romain Rimokh will be leading production on whatever Amazon's mysterious new multiplayer game is.
"Building upon eight 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,” Marquis said in Amazon's announcement.
The Siege devs seem like a good shout for a new online multiplayer project, I just hope they try to make something a little different from what's already out there. It can't be easy trying to throw something new into a games space that's bursting with hero and tactical shooters, I hope they can make one that stands out. The announcement post mentions this new game will be "based on a new IP", so hopefully that means no Crucible 2, at least.
To put it bluntly, Amazon have had a hard time trying to make a game that people actually want to play. Of the three games they announced as their initial PC offerings, two of them are already dead. They cancelled their MOBA Breakaway in 2018 before ever releasing it. Then their shooter Crucible launched in May 2020, un-launched and went back into beta shortly after, then got ditched in November after they decided it was beyond saving.
Amazon's remaining game in development is their MMO New World, which has seen multiple delays and is set to come out in August. Between this and the new studio full of Siege devs, maybe there's hope for Amazon Games yet. Maybe.