AMAZON GAMES TALKS IP GROWTH AT GAMESBEAT NEXT

[ 9 November 2024 ]

Amazon Games has spoken about IP growth opportunities, transmedia strategies, and betting big on established intellectual properties during a panel at GamesBeat Next. Laura Naviaux Sturr, General Manager of Operations at Amazon Games, spoke with Stanley Pierre-Louis, President and CEO, Entertainment Software Association (ESA), reports Venture Beat.

"The industry is at an inflection point right now," Laura Naviaux Sturr said. "We want to take two to three big bets a year and figure out the ones we can dial up a few notches. In our portfolio strategy, we need the blue chips with the dividends, some growth opportunities and engines and then taking some fun experimental bets. If you fast forward 10 years from now, what is Gen Alpha and Gen Z expecting from their gameplay experiences?"

"Big IP will always matter, always carry with it this extraordinary fandom," Naviaux Sturr said. "The big ones in the video-game world are trying to get that commentary out of the depths of the internet into real-life experiences or through film and television or theme parks, like what you see with some of the very biggest video-game IP. That's an interesting vector in terms of finding new growth."

Embracer Group and Amazon Games have an agreement under which Crystal Dynamics will develop a new multi-platform Tomb Raider title powered by Unreal Engine 5, with Amazon Game Studios providing full support and publishing the game globally. The as-yet-untitled new Tomb Raider game is a single-player, narrative-driven adventure that continues Lara Croft's story in the Tomb Raider series.

Amazon MGM Studios is also working with developer Crystal Dynamics on a new Tomb Raider live-action series. Phoebe Waller-Bridge has been confirmed as Writer and Executive Producer.

Tomb Raider on Unreal Engine 5