While IO Interactive self-published that game, the head of Amazon Games says that won’t be the case going forward. In an interview with Polygon, Jeff Gattis, GM of gaming at Amazon, says that while the tech giant “didn’t have the full rights to this First Light James Bond game,” sequels will be “done by MGM and, theoretically, by Amazon Game Studios.”
“We did not [make First Light]. We do have a stake in it because we now own the IP," Gattis explains, “but that IP acquisition happened after the First Light IO deal was already done.”
That’s all part of Amazon’s strategy to fully capitalize on the intellectual property it owns and the broad reach of the company’s entertainment businesses.
“We do see this continued integration of video and movies and video games, where that line is becoming much more blurry," Gattis says. “We think that’s a real opportunity for us to create IP that extends — or kind of expands upon — TV shows and movies. So there’ll be a Tomb Raider TV show on Prime Video that’ll go alongside the games. There’s a lot of things we have in the works on new games that’ll relate to Prime Video IP.”
Added Gattis, “This is where we’ve kind of made some bets on first-party content.”
It doesn’t sound like there will be more 007 games by IO Interactive unfortunately.
Game looks nice, but so many other big releases right now with Gamepass (Forza and Subnautica) that I’m definitely waiting for a deep sale on this one.
A shame though that IOI won’t get to make the sequels, Amazon has only failed ever since they got in to the games business.
Not a huge vote of confidence considering Amazon recently pulling back from its gaming aspirations. Hopefully they are smart enough to branch out with development. Keeping everything in house did not do WB and WB Games any favors. Disney is having a much better time licensing out their IP. It allows for more games, more variety in the slate, and minimizes risk on the IP holder (or at least spreads it out a bit more than keeping everything in house). And Amazon just isn’t a super amazing gaming publisher.
while the tech giant “didn’t have the full rights to this First Light James Bond game,” sequels will be “done by MGM and, theoretically, by Amazon Game Studios.”
I don’t feel confident about Amazon and MGM making good decisions regarding future games.
Edit: Sorry, my quote was potentially misleading. We don’t really know what it means though.
Loving this bond game. The start was like a COD game. I imagine Amazon wants to make the IP just as big in gaming. I think IO has done a great job in laying the foundation. It does look though like there will be more games. I’m assuming Amazon was really pleased with this one.
How I learned (or was reminded) that they’re doing a Tomb Raider show. Also how much IP does Amazon own now?
“We do see this continued integration of video and movies and video games, where that line is becoming much more blurry,” Gattis says. “We think that’s a real opportunity for us to create IP that extends — or kind of expands upon — TV shows and movies. So there’ll be a Tomb Raider TV show on Prime Video that’ll go alongside the games. There’s a lot of things we have in the works on new games that’ll relate to Prime Video IP.”
I wonder. I’m not even sure how much of a kickback they’re getting from the game. The deal was inked out before they owned the rights (BTW when the hell did Amazon aquire the James Bond rights??), so they’re only benefiting as much as that former deal let’s them. I’d love to see more interviews on the matter.
“We did not [make First Light]. We do have a stake in it because we now own the IP,” Gattis explains, “but that IP acquisition happened after the First Light IO deal was already done.”
It sounds like they at least wanted to publish First Light. I could easily see them being jealous that IO had this success. If they do go the route of developing a James Bond game themselves it’ll inevitably be compared to First Light and if it’s not perfect we know gamers will go online with the, “Amazon should just give the IP to IO.” (like people have shouted about Halo and how MS should sell it to Bungie). IO might also not accept future deals if Amazon pushes for publishing rights and some type of brand synergy. They’d make less money and have less freedom. Plus Amazon currently doesn’t have a strong foothold in the games industry. It’s hard to say what will happen with future Bond games. Amazon has a lot of options, but it does sound like if they had fully acquired the IP before First Light’s deal was done then the deal and game would’ve at least been different behind the scenes (namely with how it was published) and likely that would’ve changed a lot more than just publishing details.
I would think that Amazon would just publish the games like they’re doing with Tomb Raider. It wouldn’t make any sense to replace IO Interactive as the development studio.
Even in that case though, would IO want to go from self publishing to being published by Amazon? It’s a lot to work out financially behind the scenes. Maybe Amazon saying they have to publish the game moves the needle, so that it’s more sustainable for IO to just do their own IP and keep self publishing.
Guess we’ll see. The game seems to be around the 2m in sales mark already and IO Interactive was planning for the game to be a trilogy and you can see they setup the sequel with the first game and I would imagine that they would just reuse the vast majority of the assets to save on costs.
I will be surprised and disappointed if Amazon/IO Interactive can’t work out a deal to continue making the games.
At this point, Jade should just go back to Ubisoft. It could be for whatever reason, she’s a perfect fit there but everywhere else, not so much if at all.
I want to remain optimistic, but what a shitshow. They potentially killed the game sales with one statement.
The 007 First Light subreddit is in shambles.
These Amazon and MGM guys are so clueless, they don’t even know what they are selling to people.
EDIT:
There’s some hope
Amazon Game Studios has now made a statement regarding Jeff Gattis’s comments.
“Amazon MGM holds the rights to any future James Bond video games but it’s still too early to discuss future projects,” an Amazon spokesperson told VGC.
“We have a great relationship with IO Interactive and are proud of what we’ve accomplished together on 007 First Light. Our partners at IO will reveal more about 007 First Light in the near future and we’re looking forward to sharing what’s next.”
Obsidian didn’t self publish though. That’s a major difference with a financial success this big. Plus in that case Microsoft fully acquired Obsidian. IO is still independent.
