Mike Frazzini, the man who is credited with starting Amazon Game Studios is leaving the company and the industry in order to spend more time with his family. The Amazon exec told employees about his plans to step down, and it appears he's wasting no time in making the departure official.
Frazzini got his start with the e-commerce giant working in the books section of the company, but it's said that he quickly caught the eyes of CEO Jeff Bezos who decided the exec would be well-suited to lead what was then a brand-new endeavor. When the man who oversaw the launch of games like Lost Ark in the United States helped start Amazon Game Studios, he did so without having any previous experience working in the video game industry. It's said that while he managed to find some success with the endeavor there were also plenty of missteps under his guidance.
Bloomberg reported Frazzini delivered the news to those he's worked with over the years and in turn, the company offered its congratulations and thanks. In crediting the exec with getting the firm's game studio off the ground Amazon spokesman Ryan Jones also stated that recent successes with New World and Lost Ark were due to Frazzini's "customer-focused vision for games he helped establish."
Of course, while Amazon is now pointing to all the recent success Frazzini's department has seen, it's also had its fair share of issues since it was first started back in 2012. It's been said that at least some struggles were the direct result of the way the departing chief ran things. Among those reports are claims that he would often claim that there was no ceiling as far as how much money could be invested into the development of games. However, when push came to shove, employees often said he would undercut a game's budget.
While it's not clear just how much that approach affected the development of some of the game's first forays into big-time gaming, it's clear there were struggles out of the gate. 2019's The Grand Tour Game was the first Amazon Game Studios console release, but it was actually pulled from digital storefronts inside a year after it launched. Team shooter Crucible was shut down even quicker than that.
While those games' problems are going to color at least part of Frazzini's legacy with Amazon Game Studios in a negative light, it does appear he's going out with a very successful game in his back pocket. Not only did Lost Ark have success when it first launched, but it's also continued to build on that to the point where some gamers are wondering if it might eventually come to the Xbox or PlayStation consoles.
Source: Bloomberg