Amazon Games Studios’ boss Mike Frazzini has resigned from his role at the company. Frazzini worked at Amazon for almost 18 years and became one of the founding directors of Amazon Games nine years ago. As explained on his LinkedIn page, Frazzini is leaving Amazon in order to spend more time with his family and pursue personal interests.
Frazzini wriote, “while there’s never really a perfect time to step away from a great role, now is a good time.” He continued on to say how amazed he is by the opportunities Amazon gave him and even acknowledged that a return someday is not out of the question.
Amazon spokesperson Ryan Jones spoke to Bloomberg about Frazzini’s legacy. Jones made it clear that Amazon Games’ success is largely due to the “leadership and perseverance” of Mike Frazzini. Equally, Jones believes that Amazon owes a lot of its recent success in publishing two of the best performing MMOs in the industry to the boss.
Life under Frazzini
As with most start-ups in the games industry, life was not easy for Amazon Games or its boss early on. Even with the backing of one of the world’s largest corporations, it isn’t possible to just brute force your way onto the scene with money.
Although it was founded in 2012, Amazon Games did not publish a major title until 2019. Even then, it was The Grand Tour game, which is arguably one of the worst racing games released in the last decade. But things have looked up with Amazon seeing success in the MMORPG space.
First, it launched New World just last year. Even after its player base declined, the game continues to do well, and the recent reveal of a developer road map has reignited the community. Following that is Lost Ark, a South Korean MMO that has thrived since its worldwide launch. During prime times, Lost Ark is manages to attract over 400,000 concurrent players.
Source: LinkedIn
