Amazon clarifies statements on future James Bond games, says it has 'great relationship' with 007 First Light developer

Today's PR fiasco with Amazon is a great lesson in industry politics, and why insulting a potentially lucrative business partner is probably a bad idea.

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An Amazon gaming lead today found themselves in hot water when their statements fueled some pretty eye-catching headlines. In a recent interview with Polygon, Amazon Games general manager Jeff Gattis gave an 'um actually' explanation on the new 007 First Light game, saying that Amazon wasn't involved in that project and reminding everyone that new games in the series would theoretically be handled by MGM and Amazon Games.

It wasn't a good look, especially since 007 First Light is a hugely successful AAA release for the aging legacy property. It's been 14 years since the last dedicated James Bond game released, and First Light has become a platinum success shortly after launch with a strong 1.5 million sales in 24 hours. Gattis' implication that Amazon could technically take away James Bond from IO Interactive at a moment's notice simply isn't a great way to maintain a relationship with one of the most talented and proven third-person action sim developers in the industry.

This prompted Amazon to deliver a new statement to VideoGameChronicle in an attempt to clarify things. The group says that MGM has close ties to IO Interactive, which is undoubtedly true given how close the rightsholders had to work with IO on 007 First Light, but we have to wonder if that relationship has been damaged or pressured by Gattis' comments.

"Amazon MGM holds the rights to any future James Bond video games but it's still too early to discuss future projects," Amazon said in its new clarifying statement.

"We have a great relationship with IO Interactive and are proud of what we've accomplished together on 007 First Light. Our partners at IO will reveal more about 007 First Light in the near future and we're looking forward to sharing what's next."