Tomb Raider is a franchise that has existed for decades; it needs no introduction to gamers. Lord of the Rings is another franchise with a cult following just like the former.
Amazon Games is currently working on titles based on the two mentioned IPs. Variety recently interviewed the company’s VP and discussed the company’s approach to developing new games.
Amazon Games Vice-President on Upcoming Tomb Raider and Lord of the Rings Titles’
The Tomb Raider franchise is among the most popular worldwide. The series protagonist, Lara Croft, was also ranked as the most iconic video game character ever by BAFTA. Fans were excited when the next game in the series was announced to be in development.
Unlike video games based on the adventures of Lara Croft, there was a video game that was listed among the worst titles released in 2023. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, based on the famous fantasy IP, was a game that released enough flak from the gaming community, and rightly so.
However, both IPHs are now confirmed to be the subject of video games developed by Amazon Games. Talking about them, the Vice-President of the Games division of Amazon, Christoph Hartmann, said this when asked about updates:
It’s not going to be tomorrow, but it’s not too far away. I said, we’re getting into a much more regular cadence of shipping games. That’s all I’m allowed to tell you right now… It’s all about quality.
The company is a subsidiary of one of the biggest conglomerates in the world. However, it has yet to make a name for itself, and the two upcoming games could help its case.
The Upcoming Games From Amazon Games Are Focused on Quality
In the industry’s current state, well-designed and good-quality AAA games are always outliers in the set of games released in a period. AAA games, on average, haven’t justified their price tag by and large in 2024.
That has led to a sudden shift among gamers towards Indie games, which are made with much more passion. That is why any AAA game is supposed to be incredible, not to be criticized, and it seems like Hartmann and company are aware of that:
It’s all about quality. You don’t want to just be rushed out. That’s doesn’t work. It has to be Triple-A quality,
Granted, depending on the context, even quadruple-A can mean a game much worse than AA games, too, so just calling a game AAA is by no means a measure of quality. However, being new to the industry, the margin for mistakes for Amazon Games is incredibly slim.
What do you think of the claims made by Hartmann, and what do you want to see in the company’s two upcoming games? Let us know in the comments below.
