Why New World Sucks

I absolutely loved this article from Jason Schreier, this is the article I wish I could make but unfortunately I don't quite have his level of investigative access. This answers so many of my questions and reinforces so many of the things I've been saying now for a year and a half.
Fate has summoned you to the shores of Aeternum, the Eternal Isle. Overcome the brutal legions of The Corrupted and draw battle lines with competing players in this open world MMO fraught with danger and opportunity. In a land hell-bent on your destruction, what will you do to survive?
Article here:
www.bloomberg.com/news/featur...
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/ kirayt
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#mmorpg #ags #newworld
0:00 Intro
1:03 Who Is Mike Frazzini?
2:23 Frazzini's Early Impact on AGS
3:02 The Inception of Lumberyard
4:04 Employees as Sources for article
5:00 Amazon's Spending on Gaming
5:16 What makes video games
5:36 Corporate stifling creativity
7:16 Amazon's Principles
8:42 Bezos Games
9:45 Amazon's plans for gaming
10:35 The First Amazon Game Studio
10:56 Notable hires for AGS
11:32 Working for Amazon was a "fantasy land" to begin
11:50 Sexism and bro culture
13:25 Amazon is Borg, Assimilate
13:58 Ridiculous goals
16:55 Full of yes men
17:32 Management is clueless, literally
18:05 Chasing trends
18:43 Twitch success
19:10 The Twitch Marketing Machine
21:19 Hello Fellow Kids
21:49 Steam? Who?
23:50 Lumberyard's inception
25:13 Lumberyard is killing this company
28:37 Scaring the competition
29:06 Big hires
29:30 Bring in the fixer
30:30 Missing out on hires
31:30 Aligning media & failure
31:40 Embarrassment
32:08 Crucible reception
33:24 Changing of staff following crucible closure
34:30 Removing the controversial setting & Delays
34:50 Nobody who's succesful starts with metrics
35:19 Frazzini is the problem
36:20 Amazon Luna
37:04 Changes to prime video staffing & content reception
38:05 Closing of article
38:40 My final thoughts

[@KiraTV1]

Just to clarify I think that New World is looking much better in recent months and it looks like they may have at least that project on the straight and narrow from here on. I'm much more optimistic about the project than I was 6 months ago, they've done quite a lot of positive changes. There's still a ton of unanswered questions and ultimately all I want is for the game to be the best it can be. This was fascinating how incompetent the handling of their gaming division has been though.

[@Nightowl5454]

Have you considered playing PSO2 New Genesis when it comes out later this year and making content for it? It looks like it's going to be EXTREMELY popular.

[@KiraTV1]

I'll 100% be on pso2 ng

[@rickroll9705]

Truth that game still have to address content quantity and why factions are soo pointless, which are big giant deals imo. I

[@hpharold23]

Give no mistake, they're good at coding and artwork. They're lacking the real gamer as a game director.

[@paddoksa9451]

my look on New World i got to say it looks like it will go the same way as Archage Poff at the start when i did start to look on it was promesing but i did pick Ashes

[@AdrasAdraki]

Thank you for the extensive timestamps, not enough ppl go out of their way to make their videos this easy to view.

[@McLoven-vm1ck]

Yeah I don't understand how timestamps are frequently not noted during editing and included in the video details of most KZbin videos. Who ever edits the video is seeing the video and the stamps anyway.

[@KiraTV1]

Because it takes additional time to do that fanboy, tedious time. No problem adras, I usually only do it for long videos to make it easier but I'll try and do it for more structured content too.

[@AdrasAdraki]

@@KiraTV1 i usually look for it on long videos because its more likely ill tune off midway and then come back another time to watch the rest.

[@ex0stasis72]

Also, in the short term, time stamps might make people watch less minutes per video resulting in less money. However, I believe it helps foster a more loyal viewer base who’ll come back time after time to continue to watch partly due to such conveniences.

[@Jordan-Ramses]

@@KiraTV1 I find this very interesting because I've been following Star Citizen. They started with CryEngine and moved to Lumberyard. Now apparently moving back? I think it's a slow motion train wreck but I don't recommend making criticism of it. The fan base is rabid and cultish and will tear apart any unbelievers. Its kickstarter was in 2012 and there is still no release date. Well there was a 2014 release date :). In 2021 they have no date to even be in beta as it's in 'early alpha' according to them. It's raised 400 million dollars mostly in microtransactions if you can call ships that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars microtransactions.

[@generaldreagonlps6889]

I almost feel like they would've been so much more succesful if they had bought a handful of studios and then gave them a boat load of cash saying "Make the game you always wanted to make."

[@ainultmuss]

100% this

[@KiraTV1]

Almost certainly would

[@OpiatesAndTits]

@Gabby there’s a fine balance between giving creative people the freedom they need to flourish and the structure they need to succeed. Look at GRR Martin and game of thrones. Once he was a household name it seems the deadlines straight up disappeared and with it his productivity.

[@intheflatfield3851]

@@OpiatesAndTits or he just lost interest and didn't want to bother meeting the high expectations from his fans.

[@KairosObj]

It's no brainer sorry of a thing. I think New World will be a dud as well.

[@erggml1887]

"its a niche within a niche" As an Eve Online player, that cuts deep...

[@Wiplasher]

Proud to be part of that niche tho

[@erggml1887]

@@Wiplasher same here. Fly dangerously

[@TheZenytram]

that'd be triple niche cuz is Space

[@erggml1887]

@@TheZenytram true

[@mattaffenit9898]

As an attempted Eve Online player, it cuts a little deep to me. But probably not even close to half as deep as a committed player. Even if it is entirely true.

[@Mimeniia]

IMO Amazon's goal is to rope the world into their "eco system". They realised that gaming is a huge doorway and they don't care how much they fail. As long as they have enough money to throw at it they will continue to make shit until they get it right. Their own game engine is part of their eco system. How can you maintain complete control if you use third party software like UE for example. It's obvious that the hierarchy don't care about nor understand Gaming or Gamers. Their ultimate plan, their eco system of control is the goal.

[@liwendiamond9223]

Yeah, Bezos wants to be Lex Luthor. He's so toxic of a man the only women who will marry him will do so just to sap his wealth.

[@Cynsham]

@@liwendiamond9223 I can only imagine you're talking about his ex-wife divorcing him, and if so you need to stop talking about shit you don't understand. While true that she instantly became one of the richest women in the world just from divorcing him, at the same time she was a major role player within Amazon for years before it became as massive of a conglomerate as it is now, so she rightfully deserved to receive that money. Of course the internet is going to paint whoever they want however they want, and of course they're going to paint her as just another gold digger.

[@jeffwells641]

Amazon wants to be the world's retail monopsony. It's sort of the inverse of a monopoly - instead of controlling the supply, they want to control the demand, so all producers must sell their products to Amazon, who then sells to the consumers. It's kind of amazing how close they are getting to this goal.

[@SavageGreywolf]

good, let them burn their money forever. They'll never make a good game by trying to BUSINESS one into existence.

[@samuellourenco1050]

Let's hope they spend all their money failing before they achieve world domination. Amazon is cancer, and sure it behaves like a tumor, consuming any resources around it, growing without any contention, and starving the host to death.

[@angrehtimmeh1072]

Good thing you’re around. There has been a hole in the KZbin market of true consumer minded critical youtubers since John Bain died.

[@KiraTV1]

Rip to the goat. Massive inspiration of mine.

[@angrehtimmeh1072]

@@KiraTV1 Yes I can see that when you’re critical of the big studios and games. I get the feeling some KZbinrs hold back on damning criticism in the hopes of receiving free games or benefits or the like from those big companies. Keep up the good work bro.

[@KiraTV1]

Oh yeah man , I'm not in the new world partner program for this exact reason lmao. I dont want to be one of the people like "yeah man everyone but me is a sellout" because I know there's levels to it and nuance , as well as people need to make a living and then of course just different opinions...plus there are channels other than mine that do have critical content. But I do go that extra mile at times and cover things perhaps not good for my financial situation , even stuff that nets me big time subscriber losses and potential view growth. I'm just doing it my way and it won't be for everyone . I'm glad you see the parallels in my work and his. Try my best man , thanks for the kindness

[@angrehtimmeh1072]

@@KiraTV1 yes I try not to use false dichotomous thinking like that too.

[@liquid1292]

@@angrehtimmeh1072 Not to promote anyone here, but there's also a channel that tries to continue on TB's legacy, the name is "SidAlpha". I'm sure you'll be able to get TB's feel in his videos as well.

[@reasonableperson4429]

Amazon should just go into publishing. Let these studios that know how to make good games, make the games and they just give them the money to get the game completed. Amazon can get their cut from publishing.

[@oourdumb]

If they went on a publishing stance with New World they might have actually ended up with a billion dollar game. The devs KNOW what they are doing but they are not allowed to actually do them. There are people pulling strings with 0 experience in gaming and Kira is 100% right when he says they want to "manufacture" fun, because these guys are literally from the manufacturing industry.

[@maejune2179]

Diablo and Warcraft and Blizzard in general are second tier Games. I wouldn't call Diablo or Blizzard or even Star Craft top tier by any means. They are just mass mark consumer pop games. Blizzard games aren't noted as being brainy or having a top tier story. They aren't the Elder Scrolls by any means. At least the Elder Scrolls has a large diverse open world or story. Portal was clever and Half life has character you wouldn't see in Hack and Slash Diablo. Path of the Exile has more story than anything Diablo related. Diablo is just a cheap Angels vs Deamon's knockoff. Blizzard Starcraft2 was very conservative and didn't expand the story or game.

[@oourdumb]

@@maejune2179 Blizz wasn't always second tier. You are prob referring D3 and Starcraft 2... but back when Blizz was North and south Blizz they were the KINGS of gaming. Look at WoW classic, even today it's more popular than most MMO's that have no sub fee.

[@67byte20]

Oh god I just found out that Star Citizen is made on Lumberyard LMAO

[@auqustfire]

So that's why it's taken so long, they're just watching Amazon Prime shows while waiting for the code to compile, lmao.

[@mechwarrior13]

Every time I hear Star Citizen I am transported to a place and time that I don't want to go back to lol wtf happened to the industry

[@Kousaburo]

I wouldn't worry about Star Citizen, it's not a game, it's a pipe dream.

[@67byte20]

@@Kousaburo It's one more problem piled on top.

[@astronotics531]

more Star Engine than Lumberyard

[@vectorbasis4725]

This is fucking awesome. More like this please. Just detailed, nitty-gritty analysis that gets rid of sentimentality and "hype" and scrutinizes things intensely. if this genre is to move forward at all, then this is the kind of mindset we need.

[@jamesesparza6893]

nah what we need is battle passes

[@sayLeotardbutsayitChinese]

Agreed. Kira is the MauLer of the gaming world

[@bashamo9363]

Oh man what have you done, now I have to watch whole 40mins at almost 2AM

[@kesamek8537]

These revelations expose Amazon executives as the clueless prawns we always suspected they were. Fantastic.

[@Dolfinator]

So this is the engine that Star Citizen switched to, even though they had to deal with a lawsuit for ditching their previous engine? Daaaaaaaamn

[@MuttleyGames]

Lumberyard is just a licensed and modified version of CryEngine.

[@MyN0N4M3]

Lumberyard = Cryengine 3 + Amazons modifications Star Citizen ran on Cryengine 3 and also on the very same branch that Lumberyard uses. Their "switch" from Cryengine 3 to Lumberyard was a switch only in name, which also kind of was what pissed CryTek (CryEngine owner) off and why they started the entire lawsuit to begin with That said, I believe that Cryengine 3 is a pretty flawed engine overall (from a tool standpoint as a dev and also various other issues it has on clients running it) and I have not a single clue why anyone would want to use that as a basis for any online, let alone MMO game, when the entire point of Cryengine 3 was to be a singleplayer fps engine with barely any optimizations or regard for large scale multiplayer or open world

[@pandahsykes602]

@@MyN0N4M3 they aren’t using cryengine , they are using lumberyard modified into starengine ... so far gone from crysis engine you really can’t compare the two . Frames are trash in star citizen , but that has nothing to do with cryengine , just look at Dayz , last oasis , or any damn multiplayer Open world loot game .... there’s huge hiccups and technology just isn’t where it needs to be for servers to be lag free and FPS robust with 60+ players , combat , Looting , explosions , possible territory control . Crysis ran like ass on most PCs and it was single player , didn’t even have to hurdle over the challenges these new games have to . That being said , lumberyard and star engine are “fine” the way you say any “cutting edge” game could be . We need tons of improvements , but it’s the incompetency of the employees involved and the original company who wrote cryengine to give help when there’s legacy bugs (or lack thereof) that really stunt a games progress beyond the usual technological hurdles .

[@RyoMassaki]

@@pandahsykes602 The (upgraded) Crysis engine wasn't that bad. I played the Multiplayer (from the Warhead expansion) and it ran 60fps with 32 people on the server in huge maps with vehicles and looked gorgeous. That was in 2008. The engine would have been great for slower paced military shooter that are more on the tactical side. But you are right, using the engine for anything else than FPS is not very clever. Its basically the same thing with EA forcing all their dev teams to use Frostbite engine for everything. I wonder how Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda would have turned out if Bioware would have used UE4 instead.

[@jesperburns]

@@pandahsykes602 "so far gone from crysis engine you really can’t compare the two" How do you know this?

[@WhiskeyBobb]

I love how StarCitizen devs, whenever they are talking about Luberyard engine during their "dev talks" suddenly become sad and try to compose very diplomatic statements.

[@Wonderlikechild]

Sounds like you haven't checked on the project in a long time because they haven't mentioned Lumberyard in forever. In fact, they've evolved the engine with so many of their own tools/tech that it is unofficially called the Star Engine and can do waaay more than vanilla Lumberyard.

[@eclipsegst9419]

Its all CryEngine underneath, and if you can't make games with the most technologically advanced game engine in the world, you can't make games.

[@dsptchr]

@@eclipsegst9419 who can't make Games?

[@tylersanchez7153]

Man, I just worked the longest shift I've ever had as an Amazon driver lol thanks for this long form content I get to consume on my 45 minute drive home 🤌🏼

[@KiraTV1]

Thats perfect mate. Glad I could help and stay safe from the rona bro, you doing a much needed service. 🙏

[@Cynsham]

i worked as a seasonal helper for UPS drivers recently over the christmas season and i gotta say that these companies got to treat you guys and gals better. basically being forced to piss in bottles inside the trucks to stay on schedule along with a host of other unhealthy behaviors doesn't make a job like that very much fun. obviously once you get some seniority and you're making close to 35 or 40 bucks an hour it's a bit more bearable, but that doesn't excuse these companies expecting employees to develop unhealthy behaviors just to maintain the often overloaded schedule that the drivers have.

[@jimmymelo5282]

So Amazon Games is basically like every other big games company, except for the fact they don't have a 20 year old succesful title that lives off nostalgia bait. All power to the indie companies, get those nerds more money.

[@jimmymelo5282]

@@FoxyRaven-TV whey they sell out they are no longer indie. Find other studios that are actually indie and give them the money. Cleanse and repeat until the scene understands where demand is heading.

[@TheJeremyKentBGross]

@@jimmymelo5282 Valheim is killing atm.

[@TheJeremyKentBGross]

@@FoxyRaven-TV Hater alert! 😂 Judt cause you don't like it doesn't mean it's not a great match to the thread head.

[@TheJeremyKentBGross]

@@FoxyRaven-TV Well several closer folks on my steam friends list are still in it every day. I mainly bursted in it early on, but could see playing it more at a later time.

[@KiraTV1]

Games that have a specific game loop and requires additional content going down in player numbers? Never ! That must mean the game is bad and not exactly as expected.

[@JackIsNotInTheBox]

The amount of effort you put into dividing the video into sections is amazing!

[@KiraTV1]

Thank you !

[@JEffinger]

"Leaders are right a lot". Lol smart leaders listen to their people. Talk about getting high on your own supply.

[@ribas3814]

Very interesting video, loving the chapter timestamps and all, but... That Elsa mug though, that's the real MVP.

[@KiraTV1]

Best mug for sure

[@518UN4]

If they hired me instead of Frazzini and gave me that much money we would be playing SAO rn.

[@XIIOSRS]

Kk

[@Schmorgus]

Not everyone is interested in asian styled games, you know :P

[@fantasticmrnox]

@@Schmorgus but Asian styled games sell yknow

[@Schmorgus]

@@fantasticmrnox Well, if you mean "asian games are so p2w that rich people waste their money for a minute of fame" then sure. But noone really plays them. If they had a solid playerbase, devs wouldn't close down servers after a year or 2 xD

[@prism3896]

@@Schmorgus it sells in the east where the intended playerbase is so they keep pumping out so much of the same shit

[@Barkebain]

"Amazon can make anything..." - as long as they can use their hundreds of billions to purchase, or bankrupt, the competition. They can't do this in the gaming industry (yet), so they are forced to compete, and are failing miserably. Just a typical huge corporation that makes billions by purchasing any competition they can't destroy - they profit by destroying, and that just doesn't translate into the gaming world....until they have trillions to spend to purchase/destroy the competition. Let's hope they decide to give up before they do that.

[@quasxen]

Roanoke (row a noke) is an interesting story. Village started up in Virginia (I think) that just vanished. Only thing left was a carving on a tree. Big companies and rich people, a deadly combination for sure. It's a surefire way to lose sight of what really matters. Great video, love all the information you can find. I don't even really play games anymore, but still find your content super interesting. Nice job

[@Miauteusz]

This 40 min piece is suprisingly structured and was a realy good watch, good job man. Btw I think they'll delay New World again, despite many changes, based on recent news it looks like they basically started working on an endgame.

[@jimmyohdez]

More of these long videos. You've become my favorite KZbinr since I found your channel a couple weeks ago. love the content!

[@KiraTV1]

Thanks so much man , I'll hopefully put put a podcast at some point and then have some super long format videos for you

[@CoffeeRPGs]

You are on another level man. I can only wish I had the patience, fortitude, and drive to make this kind of video. I learned a lot!

[@medijate]

"Lumberyard is Killing This Company" I think we could all tell something was wrong when they managed to make two games in a row people that complain about looking dated in a fork of the CryEngine. I constantly bring this up because it's just such a marker of the turmoil AGS is going through to me. This engine has been used in what, four games? Can't think of a single one that looks like anything special. Normally, it wouldn't matter, because I'm not a 'graphics over everything' kind of person. But Amazon is Amazon. They can *make* billion dollar studios, they have these billion dollar studios, but are putting out games that end up never coming out or are subpar. Star Citizen, as of current, is literally technically the best game made in Lumberyard so far, and it doesn't even run in it anymore. *Star Citizen*. I know there are talented artists and coders working on this thing, and I don't blame them for how poor I think the game looks. But I feel as if there's something limiting them. All these fancy features and nothing to show for it. Pretty much explains the entire company.

[@truesoundwave]

If you try to download, install, and run the engine, you will immediately see the problems. It's a technical cluster fuck with incredibly poor compilation and build performance. The problem becomes much worse when you realize the install process can easily be one of the worst experiences I have ever had.

[@medijate]

Sounds like a failiure waiting to happen. Technical cluster fucks with poor build compilation and performance... let's see, Overkill's The Walking Dead comes to mind... maybe not good condiitions to put your employees through for a game that nobody thinks looks or plays like anything special.

[@truesoundwave]

@@medijate I don't I can really overstate it's power in what it's able to produce. It looks like it has very powerful tools. It's just everything is a raw waiting game to compiling, building, *opening* projects and files and the install process is legit one of the most convoluted software installs of all time. You can tell whoever fucking made that gave 0 shits about actually installing it and more to make brand deals with other tech companies. Other installs? Download, select folder, install, Fin. Lumberyard's installation is legit quantum mechanics in the 4.5th dimension.

[@Lightwish01]

First time viewer: I was surprised to see just how much insight that you have into this Amazon gaming problem. I am not sure if you got your knowledge only from reading that article? I feel like you have more experience in this games area to be able to provide such educated opinions...well done!

[@iyankov96]

I really love these long in-depth videos. Hope to see more if people feel the same way!

[@SantanaK6]

Hey I really enjoyed this lengthy video. Love to see more in-depth stuff like this.

[@MrGorgutzkiller]

Keep up the good work Kira. These big companies need to understand you can’t manufacture fun like it’s a factory floor.

[@Ithirahad]

I mean, you kind of can, but just like in any other industry, you have to respect the realities of how manufacturing these products works and respect the knowledge of subject-matter experts who actually do these things, rather than assume you can just mindlessly chase superficial elements of trends and conjure success. Just like you can manufacture food on a factory floor and have it be at least serviceably good, but not if you just make products that _look_ like current food trends and completely ignore the basics of culinary arts and how foods and flavors work.

[@PetarRusev]

This is a creative hell! I sympathize to all these people... yeah they probably got sh*t load of money but this soul reaper, aka Frazzini, probably made their lives miserable. My mind can't comprehend how you fail when having the top 1% of the 1% of the gaming artist/engineers in the world. This is what a huge ego is getting you I guess...

[@backseatdriver9576]

Great video. Thank you for sharing it. It's really hard to get actual real news anymore so this was refreshing and enjoyable.

[@UTxTheArchangel]

"Coming in 3rd to the party..." GOG slowly walks to a single swing and cries.

[@smokeyfantastico]

As someone who worked for them. Yes this is true and how they run things.

[@michaelkpate]

It reminds me a great deal of what we've heard about Anthem and the Frostbite Engine. I get that these companies don't want to have to pay royalties but at some point they have to stop reinventing the wheel.

[@KiraTV1]

Indeed , forcing a square shaped peg into a circle shaped hole just because you're too greedy or arrogant is the worst.

[@YayaBeanz]

@@KiraTV1 It's a little scary to me that this is becoming EVERY major company right now... It makes me think about how the "square shape into circle hole" logic has actually worked! To a certain point the only factor affecting your success rate is money, y'know the old "too big to fail" adage. We are finally reaching the point of which the hubris is finally causing that method to implode - the total disconnection companies are now collectively suffering as a result of unregulated bald-faced greed running unchecked for twenty plus odd years is resulting in a total collapse of the system itself on almost every level. I wonder if I ought to finally make a video on this. Lol.

[@MrTalithan]

@@YayaBeanz And then you have nintendo over in it's own corner, making quality titles 9/10 times.

[@Sorain1]

@@MrTalithan Nintendo seems to be running a long term strategy of simply surviving until everyone else destroys themselves. Upside for us is that we get good games and consoles out of it. Downside is the plan may not work out, because much of their competition are tiny parts of huge companies that survive on other money sources.

[@mortadel187]

I really like those kind of deep dive video thanks kira awesome work as always !

[@zakharia4697]

You had me creasing with the lil south park reference, gold

[@sculptre]

Though i'm currently still sitting at the end of my 3rd semester majoring in animation, i had also decided to work my butt off and hope to slowly make my way into a game studio.. but bro, after listening to all these.. frazzini scares me man.

[@stray6770]

after all the recent news the past years from major game studios it seems like game development is just another word for slaves.

[@aedankor2961]

Well they kinda are, the best thing you can do is stay an indie developer and put your games on steam an build up your fanbase and game even more over time and put out more of your games etc...

[@YayaBeanz]

This is unfortunately life for most people in game development. You're either rolling dice for failure or success every day as an indie, or you're working for a company that doesn't know or care about the industry - only to bend that industry to the will of their 'investors' and fuck everyone else.

[@brendancoulter5761]

While from what I hear it can be a tough industrie, It is safe to assume not all studios are run like Amazon. Some are successful, thats different from Amazon.

[@shartangus9741]

As someone that's been in the New World alpha tests since the very beginning, it's been obvious from a tester perspective that the expertise and care that was going into this game 2 years ago is all but evaporated. Back when it was still a "hardcore" survival game (even then it wasn't that hardcore), the devs would always talk about expanding the territory control system, adding more depth both within and between guilds, adding open world dungeons to compete for, and really creating a truly sandbox game with player interaction and political intrigue. Now, every update we get is just cookie-cutter PR speech that drastically overhypes minor changes. Like the upcoming changes to crafting and its UI; reading their update makes it sound like they've reinvented their crafting system and made the UI way more friendly and usable.... I can tell you it is marginally better but still nothing to shake a stick at. I hope they can recover this game because the western MMO market is in such a terrible state but the way Amazon has treated it so far doesn't fill me with confidence.

[@Victor-tb1ww]

Wow, 40 min long video. That was a good surprise. Thanks, kira.

[@kivikaze]

Great video Kira! :) Somehow I am not even surprised by all this.

[@kasandraardnasak9113]

The fact that "Why would you wanna piss off Amazon, it is not a good idea" is an honest phrase means we already live in a corporate giant dystopia where our lives are nothing but tools at their disposal.

[@HoaxManTheOne]

took you long enough to figure out

[@kasandraardnasak9113]

@@HoaxManTheOne I am referred to as very special after all

[@Holyduck777]

When my friend told me to play this game as soon as they said "Amazon Games" I fucking, no, that's like saying "Hey drink this bottle of water I may or may not have pissed in"

[@Tidges01]

Thanks Kira for pumping out quality content like no other!

[@arvetis]

The company is named after a rain forest, and they called their engine Lumberyard

[@shanelongest9326]

The best thing that comes from these scenarios is breakoff game studios formed by former employees. Amazon's seed is valuable in that regard.

[@robertjohns4218]

This is a good point, a bunch of folks seeing how badly a games division can be run when it has an almost bottomless money pit is instructional, good things can still come from bad starts.

[@samuellourenco1050]

That's the only positive aspect. A group of disgruntled ex-employees bent on not committing the same mistakes as Amazon, and with the experience to boot.

[@alexanderdijkema9782]

once I heard they brought someone in to see if their game was "racist" I knew it was over.

[@Osiris261]

countless games about shooting white people. and no one gives a f. but if they have a colored person in it, it is racism :D

[@tyrelhamblin229]

hope amazon doesn't fucks up the publishing of Lost Ark Online in the west this year

[@killler240]

This was worth staying up to watch it in full!

[@ErvilhaGeorge]

Vindication for Kira! Good to see like others have said a brit that is transparent and critical of big video game studios. A breath of fresh air! Why don't you have more subs? Subscribe to this men already!

[@KiraTV1]

Haha we on that grind mate, one day maybe we'll be much bigger but I'm honestly just happy I've managed to get to this stage so far. Appreciate the support

[@valiant719]

As someone who’s looking forward to new world and eventually the new lord of the rings game this was really interesting.

[@TheZenytram]

well i guess you are extremely angry right now

[@shmel3689]

@@TheZenytram what haplened? Something got canceled again?

[@TheZenytram]

@@shmel3689 the LotR.

[@squbisnack5478]

nice video, dont mind the length of it. good job K

[@Midgert89]

This was a good video! Informative and full of good takes.

[@UtaShirokage]

Great video, 40 mins felt like 10!

[@KiraTV1]

Thanks mate glad you enjoyed!

[@Jorendo]

Sadly this goes for many companies. Boardmembers deciding how a game should be, yet the developers being punished when it fails. People in suits should not meddle with how games are made. Just like the developers shouldn't meddle with the administration of the company. Suits always look at what other games have done "O call of duty goes modern warfare, alright people let's make a modern warfare game and we want it to be bigger and better then Call of Duty! Get on it..you have 2 weeks!". We saw the same with Sim City. What do Sim CIty players like? Build a big ass city right? Be creative and build the city of their dreams right? What do the suits see "World of Warcraft is online right? World of Warcraft has 12 million (back then still had those numbers) active subs right? Alright, let's make Sim City a multiplayer game! All the big games are multiplayer, WoW, CoD you name it, it's online! How to ensure people need to be online with others? Give them hardly any fucking space to build their cities on, so they need other players to focus on other parts of a city to make them work together. Wouldn't that limit the creativity? Fuck you is what, fucking dev get on it!". Game failed like no tomorrow and what do the suits do, instead of going like "Yeah we fucked that up" they closed the fucking studio after they had the studio taking the blame for it. Disgusting. We need the game industry back in the hands of proper people again. People with passion for games, who know what gamers want and who want to take creative risks and not thinking about "We need to make a shit ton of profit thus we need to sell atleast 5 million copies in the first month otherwise it's deemed a failure and we close the studio responsible for the game down even when it's a legendary studio". Thankfully the indy scene gets better and better, as well as the studios below AAA, i don't know how you call them? But studios like Spiders.

[@mechwarrior13]

Kind of like how old politicians are trying to rule an ever-increasingly technological world

[@dlunas81]

I always watch your videos way after they come out. This was pretty good.

[@KiraTV1]

Thanks man

[@pelda6749]

So actualy director of amazon game industry hired some best guys in industry fot lot of money and then dont listen their advices? Sounds like problem is not in tail but in the head.

[@KiraTV1]

Yeah its absolutely crazy to think you know better than actual experts you're paying double the industry standard.

[@dievas_]

And robbing gamers of possible good games. There are very few good game devs on Earth and every such developer working in shitty studios like this means no one is working on great ideas at given moment.

[@frankbones8349]

its all to appear pro active ( another buzzword from corporate) to impress the investors

[@hpharold23]

Give no mistake, they're good at coding and artwork. They're lacking the real gamer as a game director.

[@YayaBeanz]

This is something I was just discussing with a new acquaintance - 'game director' is a specific ability to coordinate a vision that very few actually have and it isn't really taught to you and yet it seems like these companies find these 'directors' that don't play games and don't have a personal history or interest in developing their own vision, give them insane power and money and wonder why it isn't turning out right?

[@Schmorgus]

I wouldn't say that a gamer is needed. The director just needs to listen to the devs and the community surrounding the games they develop. And, I've seen multiple games fail horribly after listening to much on the gamers in their communities, so it's a balance act. But you really don't need a gamer in charge. Because every gamer has their own ideas on what a "fun game" really is.

[@jeroxis9975]

Greatly appreciate the content, as always Kira You deserve way more subs!

[@NayfeePaints]

I don’t play video games these days ,but love your videos and presentation. Keep up the good work mate!

[@konst3d]

I'm a developer and I have worked for few huge companies and yes - they all have problems and lumberyards... But they are big, rich and successful for a reason... So I believe if Amazon really decided to become a game developer - they most likelly will succeed. But let's just wait and see... Anyway, so far New World looks good enough, definitely I will it give it a try.

[@Dubstepconcept]

I worked at Amazon in the AV department when he told the story of starting the game department. Frazzini literally had nothing to do with games but thought they could make money, wrote and re-wrote his proposal multiple times and finally proposed it to bezos. After the first meeting they had huge amounts of funding (initial amount is under nda i think). I knew right then that this would be a shit show where every issue would be fixed by throwing money at it. It was his playground and he knew it. Unfortunate because they could have done some great things.

[@roiking2740]

would have being wiser to just buy a studio and use it to make games. hell we need Triple A studios that value good writers an aim at making blockbusters like mass effect. but those idiots only want to make a money machine. though from my experience in the long run MMO make less money than a successful RPG or shooter and they are a lot cheaper to make.

[@nadijung7503]

@@roiking2740 mobile costs less time to make than MMOs and Console/PC-RPGs and makes even more money. Look how every MMO company is trying to make game apps nowadays.

[@roiking2740]

@@nadijung7503 yeah but those are not games, those are figurative cash cows. and i assume amazon wants to make somewhat legitimate money not be in the "drug" business

[@tuckerfully7690]

I appreciate your videos. Your in depth analysis is super helpful and insightful. You are harsh at times but with good reason and many times I share your frustration.

[@haustierone]

watched the whole thing, thats the content i got hoked on here mate. gj again

[@browly2489]

oh man noooo. nonononono i dont want to see something bad about this game again i am craving for an mmorpg i am sick to play since 6 years archeage. I think i will even play Archeage on 2k55 if we continue like that

[@escarretada]

If you like archeage you will need to wait for ashes of creation

[@pepps779]

Much of this definitely sounds believable, especially given their external record of repeated failures. However, I also feel we might be falling prey to some confirmation bias, as that paragraph on "sexism" contained zero definitive examples of clear sexism and makes me question what other elements of the article are more so opinionated framing than fact.

[@dreamforger7166]

The title doesn’t give me much hope xD exciting to see how this ends:0

[@samuellourenco1050]

Everything that Amazon does turns into a prison. They are experts in destroying the fun of working.

[@oldplayer9033]

Let me say: Jeff Bezos is one of the richest man of the world. With his money resources he could buy the best developers/studio of the world and could create the best MMO ever!! I dont understand how the recent developers develop so "poorly" . With Amazons resources they could create a game superior that Star Citizen developers look like an indie studio!

[@KiraTV1]

Inability to delegate to competent people. Cronyism. Thats pretty much the issue here.

[@AdrasAdraki]

Ags is the visual representation that throwing money at the problem doesnt work.

[@davlos8138]

@@KiraTV1 +1 This industry is rife with management constantly fucking things up. It doesn't matter if you clone Hideo Kojima 400 times to spread him out across 400 projects. Manage the Kojima clones poorly and the result is the same with AGS. I've been in AAA teams where top management don't even play games, but are there taking home $20k a month just because they're pals with someone in corporate HQ.

[@xPetyr]

They have no clue what the f they are doing, started as survival and changed to mmorpg. That says it all.

[@lordtouchme5735]

Heard it before. I dont care, game lookig better.

[@xPetyr]

@@lordtouchme5735 It is, i'm not saying it isn't

[@loiuhuiygny7guyguiygk]

Thanks for the vid and info! much appreciated

[@deso5674]

The "It's a niche within a niche" line reminded me of the "Always has been" meme. I think that not understanding that and approaching game developement mainly from a marketing perspective is similar to cooking a dish without knowing what your main ingredient is. The result will most likely be a messy failure. :)

[@ClearsG]

Me beeing a web dev, I'm actually shocked at some things I've seen about this studio. It's actually crazy people with that amount of money can't get things done right.

[@Jimmy-wf6vy]

"Me being a web dev" Is that supposed to mean something? lol

[@ClearsG]

What I've seen so far is equality, good developers and good work environments. One would think that Amazon could be an example, having every resource possible. They're doing everything wrong.

[@brendancoulter5761]

"Its exactly like riot games" Except Riot games is successful.

[@MrGrogan02]

Jason Schreier is an excellent video game journalist. His work covering Anthem was also incredibly informative.

[@Fweepo]

Thanks for this Kira, I feel like an industry insider now.

[@thisblows2724]

I remember when I went to the amazon game studio in orange county back in 2017 and saw New World and Breakaway.

[@Knigh7z]

Great summary. Thanks!

[@Snemongo]

Awesome! Im subbing. I just had a thought that I wanted to throw out there as an "improvement" or suggestion to New World to enhance the feeling of the lore-integration or whatever you call it. Crafting seems to be aligned with items in the world stat-wise and you can craft items that are as powerful as this found in the world, and that's fine. The change I personally think would give the dungeons and raids (if they are to exist) more satisfaction upon completion is that the weapons that you loot from bosses and dungeons have their unique names, and their own stories to tell. So if you loot a sword called "Goblin Cleaver" or whatever, that will be able to be crafted, stat wise, but the name will differ due to the "lore of the sword" so to speak. to differentiate the two, and to get that unique item-feeling though everyone might have the item due to crafting, but the name differs and confirms your pve-accomplishments .This was longer than I expected but thanks for the videos :)

[@justinkashtock333]

“You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is ‘Never get involved in a land war in Asia,’ but only slightly less well-known is this: ‘Never give a gaming studio to a Sicilian when profits are on the line!” -Frazzini the Sicilian

[@skatatataatje]

Did you just say sorry for the fact that this is a long video? I fucking love these!

[@Schmorgus]

Every youtuber says that though, because people are to stressed these days to sit down and watch a video longer than 15 minutes. KZbinrs know this, so they cut their vids shot in order to get the views. xD

[@imredish6897]

Watched a few of your videos now. Extremely well measured takes in all of them and you're very professional in your production. High quality content, my friend.

[@KiraTV1]

Thanks so much brother 🙏

[@aaronstorey9712]

@@KiraTV1 what game is that in the background?

[@elnoone9893]

Thanks for the info man! Loving your content, keep that beard growing its looking crisp, next step full viking, lol!

[@barryg.5224]

It's 'row -uh-noke' (Roanoke). I live in VA so that story has been beaten into my head since like Grade School.

[@ethzero]

Always loved the irony that Amazon have to products related to tree destruction: Kindle and Lumberyard.

[@Kayenne54]

Recall a story by a published author who frequently got people (at book signings, cocktail parties etc.) say things like "Yeah, I'm going to write a book; how hard can it be?". One neuro-surgeon was dismissive of writing, claiming he was going to write a book (sounded like he was intimating "over the next weekend off" to our Author). Author replies, "Of course. And after my weekend workshop on brain surgery, I'll be taking clients for surgery next week". Failing to comprehend the amount of research, study, hard work (and money!) that goes into being successful in someone else's area of expertise is a really common problem for many people. It takes more than a few weeks.

[@darthdowty]

Great video. And agree with most of what you say, especially the corporate culture vs creativity battle that so often ruins games. The recent launch of cyberpunk comes to mind with this.

[@prochilles1246]

Dude kiratv, your videos are great man. The few Ive watch so far are 100% always on topic and not saturated with bs cuts of cringy jokes/memes, probably cause it seems you invest the time to research and you know what you're talking about, rather than video spamming hot-topic issues about nonsense or self-promoting your upcoming cooking vlog. Keep up the great work bud.

[@Ryan-xq3kl]

@ 25:23 when it mentions esoteric commands to function, this reminded me of my experience with lumberyard. I downloaded it multiple times on a very new, well spec'd PC and could barely get it to run any time. I never got past experimenting with terrain, everything was far too slow and convoluted. And I guess because of this esoteric command bullshit, It would basically fail to load like 60 % of the time. And mostly it just didnt compile properly or save , such a nightmare.

[@voiddistortion7937]

I'm sure it'll work itself out. We were never so obsessed about the operations behind closed curtains for game developers in the past, granted developers were held in higher regard in terms of quality and expectations, but I can only imagine the gritty details of these places before we felt the need to be so enveloped into what they are actually doing.

[@saurlex1368]

I enjoyed listening to you read this article I never would have read myself. Good 2nd monitor content.

[@KiraTV1]

Glad you enjoyed it bro

[@coachlarue]

I have been pronouncing Roanoke wrong my whole life. Great job Kira on providing info on the inner-workings of these Amazon fails

[@chowderfaceable]

“While they are AFK, or tugging it”. I literally just watch your channel because of how funny you are 😂

[@aitanliran885]

Thank you for keeping people informed.

[@jtan487]

The footage you showed reminds me of anthem graphics with warframe movement mechanics and Gameplay.

[@Matikz007]

ngl as someone who lives in Virginia, hearing how you pronounced "Roanoke" around 33:42 was painful lol. Love your content though

[@omarsameh5007]

KirtaTV thanks alot for time stamp

[@Victis_Rage]

I was wondering how they were doing. Thanks to this video I know now! ROFL! Subbed.

[@kaiserschnitzel89]

Man don't ever apologize for making a long video.

[@Sniffy_Joe]

Been playing the New World alpha lately and it definitely is missing an identity. This video sheds some light on why that is. Thanks!