John Smedley is known for several notable MMORPGs from the past. Since 2017, he has been working at Amazon Game Studios. Now he is leaving the company to pursue “something new.” During his time at Amazon, none of the games he worked on were released.
Who is the developer?
- John Smedley has been working in the gaming industry for over 20 years, originally at Sony Online Entertainment, before founding his own studio Daybreak in 2015.
- Smedley is known for his work on Everquest, PlanetSide, DC Universe Online, and Star Wars Galaxies, which many fans long for.
- Since 2017, he has been working at Amazon as Studio Head in San Diego. However, he will soon leave the company.
What has Smedley worked on at Amazon? Smedley led several projects at the shipping giant’s game studio. One of them is a large “Lord of the Rings” MMO, which was announced in 2019.
In 2020, Amazon announced a new Sci-Fi MMO, which Smedley was also supposed to lead. There is still little information about this, and it has yet to be officially announced with a name.
Since 2022, a new Sci-Fi MMO is said to be in development. Whether this is the same one that has been in the works since 2020, we cannot say for sure. The studio is keeping details under wraps.
Amazon has had some difficulties with the success of their games in the past. The shooter Crucible, for example, performed so poorly that it was “un-released”. Here is the trailer for the now-canceled game:
Smedley works on several MMOs – None of them is released
During his time at Amazon, none of the games Smedley worked on has ever been released. The Lord of the Rings MMO was already canceled in 2021. A Sci-Fi MMO from Amazon has yet to be officially announced.
Smedley said goodbye to his team in San Diego via email, according to Bloomberg, stating he wants to try “something new” after much consideration.
However, Smedley wants to stay long enough to ensure a smooth transition for the team, so the planned titles do not suffer.
According to Bloomberg, employees did not hold Smedley responsible for the failures of the game studio, but rather the former head Mike Frazzani. Frazzani left the company in 2021.
Since then, the German manager Christoph Hartmann has been leading Amazon Games. Smedley has already praised Hartmann for his decisions. Hartmann previously worked on the popular but unsuccessful Evolve:
The boss explains why the great game Evolve failed so catastrophically – Admits 2 major mistakes
