Amazon Game Studios head Christoph Hartmann departs as gaming ambitions narrow

Christoph Hartmann, vice president and head of Amazon Game Studios, is leaving the company, marking another setback for the tech giant’s long-running ambitions in the gaming industry. Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier reported the development, describing it as a further blow to Amazon’s efforts to establish itself as a major force in games.

Hartmann, a co-founder of 2K Games, previously served as president of the publisher behind franchises such as BioShock and Borderlands before departing in 2017. He joined Amazon in 2018 and was tasked with overseeing a portfolio of internal studios developing titles including the MMO New World, which is now scheduled to go offline in January 2027.

When he joined Amazon, Hartmann said the company was uniquely positioned to push gaming forward by combining Amazon Game Studios with AWS technology, the global reach of Twitch and Twitch Prime, and the broader Amazon ecosystem, according to a Kotaku report. However, Amazon ultimately struggled to bring these assets together in a way that produced a sustained hit in the highly competitive games market.

One of the most notable failures during this period was Crucible, a hero shooter developed by Relentless Studios and released in 2020. The game was pulled back into beta shortly after launch and was later cancelled entirely, becoming emblematic of Amazon’s difficulties in original game development.

Also See: Amazon Layoffs

Amazon signalled a strategic shift away from large-scale AAA game development last autumn amid widespread layoffs across the company. The status of a previously announced Lord of the Rings MMO remains unclear, with Amazon yet to confirm its future, although a developer has said the team working on the project was laid off. The company is still expected to publish the upcoming Tomb Raider titles, including a reboot of the original game scheduled for release this year.

Despite these retrenchments, Amazon appears to remain invested in gaming primarily through its cloud gaming service, Luna, suggesting a narrower focus as it reassesses where it can realistically compete in the sector.