Christoph Hartmann was born in Rosenheim, built a career at a music label, and entered gaming with Grand Theft Auto in 1997. Since 2018, he has been at Amazon Games, aiming to advance the gaming department there, but now it seems he has misstepped in an interview and is facing a lot of backlash.
Why is Christoph Hartmann currently facing criticism? In an interview with IGN on August 24, Hartmann discussed AI and the benefits it could bring.
Currently, it takes about 5 years to develop a game, and because of this long production time, one often falls behind the times. AI could potentially reduce the production time to around 3 years.
However, he must be careful when speaking about AI, he said, and then came the part of the statement that is now attracting much criticism:
But when we talk about AI, we mainly hope that it helps us develop new gameplay ideas, which has nothing to do with taking away someone’s job. And specifically for games, we don’t really have actors… The majority of the team is involved in programming, and that will remain the case because this is about innovation. If something is eliminated, it’s the boring parts.
“This explains why Amazon Games lacks remarkable games”
What is the reaction? Particularly the part about not really having actors in gaming has upset many people.
In the comments on Twitter about a report on the statement, it says:
- “This is exactly why we should stop hiring people with a degree in business.”
- “This is the furthest from reality I have ever heard.”
- “This explains why Amazon Games has no remarkable games.”
- “I guess the entire motion-capturing industry, which often also provides the voices, just doesn’t exist, huh?”
Another user simply posts the game lineup from Amazon Games with Crucible, New World, Lost Ark, and the now canceled Blue Protocol as evidence of what Amazon Games has brought forth as “legendary and unforgettable games.”
Kratos prepares to deliver the final blow
What does Kratos say? Christopher Judge is the actor for Kratos in the “God of War” games. He shares a clip from the motion-capturing of The Last of Us 2, where the actress fully engages and dryly says: “Thank goodness there is no real acting in video games.”
Can anything be said in defense of Hartmann? Well – Hartmann probably meant something more like:
Actors are only a part of the process in gaming, the focus is on gameplay and programming – therefore we don’t need to pay as much attention to this topic as in films.
Even so, this likely would have caused trouble. But in this form, it came across even worse and seems very “cold and disrespectful” towards a part that many players consider an important component of video games.
Christoph Hartmann is probably one of the most significant Germans in gaming overall. We have summarized his exciting biography in an article: Son of a dentist from Rosenheim is the boss of Amazon Games: “I want Lord of the Rings to be the largest MMO”
