Amazon AI Mandate Derailed Project Trident, Ending in 14,000-Job Layoffs
Updated
Updated · Kotaku · May 14
Amazon AI Mandate Derailed Project Trident, Ending in 14,000-Job Layoffs
7 articles · Updated · Kotaku · May 14
Eurogamer reported Amazon Games pushed Project Trident through repeated redesigns under a generative-AI mandate before canceling it in the October layoffs that hit roughly 14,000 Amazon employees.
18 months was the team’s reported ship deadline after the AI pivot, forcing the game from a Shadow of the Colossus-style concept to a Helldivers-like version and then a single-player format.
Developers secured extra time and were finishing a demo when Amazon halted significant first-party AAA work, with gaming chief Steve Boom saying the cuts were focused especially on MMOs.
The same retrenchment appears to have killed Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO, though Amazon told Eurogamer it is still exploring a separate Tolkien game with Middle-earth.
Why did Amazon cancel its promising AI-driven game after forcing developers to pivot and adopt the new technology?
Is Amazon’s public AI push for gaming a facade, given the cuts to its own AI-focused studios and projects?