Amazon Games boss Christoph Hartmann believes there is a lot of consolidation happening in the gaming industry. Over the last few years, there’s almost been an arms race between major corporations to buy up the best talent and bring it in-house. Microsoft has been a key player when it comes to buying sprees with smaller studios and big names like Bethesda and Activision. PlayStation has also ramped things up buy acquiring Insomniac Games and Bungie. It doesn’t seem like this is anywhere near ending either, especially if rumors are anything to go by.
Last week, it was rumored that Amazon was going to acquire EA. Of course, this didn’t happen, but the fact that it didn’t sound outlandish highlights the state of the industry. In an interview with GameSpot, Amazon Games boss Christoph Hartmann noted that he believes that the industry will end up as a monopoly and spoke about how different things are compared to when he started in the industry over two decades ago.
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“In the long run, we’re all dead,” said Hartmann. “Every business, as long as the state doesn’t interfere, will end up as a monopoly in some form,” he said. “Not that I’m saying [we at Amazon are] going for that. What I’m saying is there are fewer and fewer players. I’ve been doing this for 25 years, and the amount of game companies I have seen back then to what it is now… now Activision is getting sold. Who’s left? Take-Two and EA. Take-Two, I don’t know, I think with GTA everyone is steering away because it’s an invitation for trouble… And EA, there’s all the mumblings out there…”
As of right now, it remains to be seen who is next to get acquired. EA is a name that gets thrown around a lot. There were rumblings that WB Games could get sold off, but it seems unlikely now that the publisher has spoken about its success. Either way, it doesn’t sound like things are going to slow down.
What do you think of Hartmann’s thoughts? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
