![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/files\/2019\/02\/Unknown.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe video game industry is about to suffer a hurricane. Both Google and Amazon have announced they will enter the business and they won\u2019t be satisfied with releasing just one more game in an already crowded space. They want to change the rules of the market.<\/p>\n
On the one hand, Amazon Game Studios is working on a multiplayer online game called New World. The game has no overarching story, mission, or definite ending. In a large degree, it lets players decide what happens next. The most important rule is there is no endgame except your own. With this strategy, Amazon is aiming to change the video gaming narrative. The Seattle-based firm, with its powerful AWS infrastructure, will likely provide all computing necessary \u201con the cloud,\u201d and users will be able to play without any expensive hardware.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, Google is expected to launch an online streaming service for video games similar to Netflix. The concept is even simpler than Amazon\u2019s: play directly on your browser, and if you wish, using a Bluetooth controller. They tested the concept until this January with a reduced group of testers under the name \u201cProject Stream,\u201d<\/p>\n
These two tech incursions into the gaming industry do not come as a surprise. According to a PwC report, the video gaming market is on the rise. Between 2012 and 2017, the sector grew faster than any other content industry. The market is also expected to grow 28% between 2018 and 2022. In summary, the industry is booming and both Google and Amazon want a piece of this wealthy pie.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Amazon already had a foot in the door through its platform Twitch, which live-streams video gaming. With Twitch, Bezos\u2019 firm controls distribution for specific types of games: eSports and live streamed.<\/p>\n
Now Amazon is determined to define how games are built, distributed and played. The \u2018open end\u2019 kind of game that Amazon is proposing has been tried before (FarmVille by Zynga for one) but not at this scale. It is too expensive for average game developers to develop. New World can lead the industry into a new form of storytelling, one that is completely controlled by the consumer.<\/p>\n
Google\u2019s innovation can be even more disruptive. By controlling distribution and luring game developers into its net, Google could easily obliterate competitors like Nintendo, PlayStation and X-Box. Players won\u2019t need heavy and uncomfortable specialized hardware. They will just connect online. Google will have access to data\u2014how long consumers play, when they stop, what they like,\u2014which will give them even more leverage when negotiating with game developers. As Netflix, Google could set up a subscription model, get a library full of games (both new and classics) and slowly learn everything about the players. Distribution is everything.<\/p>\n
Apart from Microsoft, already in the business, video gaming seemed the last outpost from the Big Four tech companies not yet in the industry: Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Apple. But it is not anymore. Gaming companies like Activision, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft need to figure out whether they want in or out in regards to Google\u2019s initiative. Their decision will have a lasting impact on the future of the industry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The video game industry is about to suffer a hurricane. Both Google and Amazon have announced they will enter the business and they won\u2019t be satisfied with releasing just one more game in an already crowded space. They want to change the rules of the market. On the one hand, Amazon Game Studios is working […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,31],"tags":[73143,24307,17406],"coauthors":[109008,108574],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-digital","category-gaming","tag-digital","tag-gaming","tag-streaming","megacategoria-mc-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/the-media-industry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}