John Smedley is the former CEO of Sony Online Entertainment and later Daybreak Games. He is currently working for Amazon on a new, yet-to-be-announced game. From the latest job postings, we now know that it is a science-fiction MMO, possibly even an MMORPG.
What kind of game is this? Not much is known about the new title from Amazon Games. The studio in San Diego is looking for several new employees, including game designers, graphic designers, cloud architects, and narrative designers, those who write the story of the game.
The job listing for the Senior Narrative Designer contains the most information about the game so far:
- It is set to take place in a brand new sci-fi world
- It will be a massively multiplayer game
- Employees are sought who have extensive experience in MMO development
- Experience in storytelling in MMORPGs is preferred.
Particularly the last point gives hope that the game could be an MMORPG.
For the Senior Level Designer, experience with Unreal Engine 4 is requested. It is possible that this or the new Unreal Engine 5 will come into play here.
Who is behind the game? The head of the team is John Smedley (featured image). He has experience in MMO development and is considered one of the fathers of the MMORPG genre. He co-founded the company Verant Interactive, which was later acquired by Sony and developed games as Sony Online Entertainment.
Smedley was the one who brought Brad McQuaid, who passed away unexpectedly in 2019, and Steve Clover into his team and created EverQuest with them. Until 2015, Smedley was part of the company that later renamed itself Daybreak Games. Under him, games like EverQuest 2, PlanetSide 2, and H1Z1 were released.
Since 2017, he has been part of Amazon, although little was known about his project.
Amazon is currently working on 4 MMOs and it is getting more exciting
What is happening at Amazon? Amazon is currently working on some new games, including the shooter Crucible, which did not have a successful launch.
However, more exciting are the various MMOs, all of which have the potential to be really interesting and successful:
- New World is set to launch in spring 2021. It takes place in an alternate 17th-century world and has many fantasy elements. Despite some hiccups during the preview event, the game has made a good impression, according to us at MeinMMO.
- Already in 2019, Amazon announced a new “Lord of the Rings” MMO. There are not many details, but it is exciting just because of the franchise.
- In 2021, the MMORPG Lost Ark will be released in the West. The game features an isometric perspective like Diablo. Here, Amazon is handling the publishing.
Now, joining these three games is the science-fiction MMO from John Smedley. However, since the job listings just came out this week and many positions are to be filled, it will likely take some time before the release of this game.
