Jeffrey Preston Bezos announced today he’s stepping down as CEO of Amazon less than a year after it un-released team-based shooter Crucible because nobody wanted to play it. First Stadia. Now Bezos. You hate to see it.
“I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board and Andy Jassy will become CEO,” the richest man in the world wrote in a memo to staff. “In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives.”
It’s unclear if those “energies and attention” will be directed at helping Amazon release better games, or not have one of the worst “bro cultures” in the gaming industry, according to one former developer who recently spoke with Bloomberg.
The messy foray into game development has been documented since a report last summer by Wired outlined the tech monopoly’s struggles to rip off competitors in the gaming space as successfully as it has in other areas of the market. Notably, Amazon released the MOBA shooter hybrid Crucible last May, only to shut down the game less than six months later.
Now Bezos appears to be shutting himself down, or at least taking a few steps out of the limelight.