Game Dev Uses New World To Troll Amazon Over Allegedly Poor Working Conditions, Business Practices
Amazon’s New World beta has been open now for over a week. Many players have overall enjoyed fighting monsters, utilizing resources, and joining factions in the MMO, but some have found other ways to enjoy their time. One player adopted the online ID “AmazonOfficial” in New World and has spent their time telling others in the game about many of Amazon’s alleged offenses.
The online ID was adopted by Lulu Chiba, a community director at video game developers Aggro Crab Games and Eggnut Games. She quickly discovered that “AmazonOfficial,” “AmazonSupport,” and other desirable names were available and nabbed “AmazonOfficial.” She then decided that she would talk to other players about Amazon’s allegedly poor business practices. These practices include the company forcing its employees to urinate in bottles during their work hours and listening in to consumers through Alexa devices. She has shared her conversations with New World players on her Twitter account.
Chiba has also used her moniker to encourage players to abandon New World and instead try out Final Fantasy XIV. Most players have quickly recognized that Chiba is not an official representative from Amazon and have offered up their own witty replies. She claimed in an interview with Kotaku that she is not deeply concerned about being banned because she does not intend to play the game when it is officially released at the end of August.
Many consumers have also been suspicious of Alexa and other similar devices. Amazon admitted in 2019 that they hire individuals to listen to voice recordings for a variety of reasons. Amazon claims that users can opt-out of this feature and that “all of our Echo devices are designed with your privacy in mind.” Nevertheless, many consumers remain unconvinced.
The New World beta was released the same day former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos headed to space on a rocket developed by his company Blue Origin. This launch and Bezos’ speech after he returned from space have garnered criticism. Bezos commented,“I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you paid for all of this.” Many have accused Bezos of being tone-deaf as many Amazon workers have been fighting for better pay and working conditions.
Image courtesy of Amazon.
The online ID was adopted by Lulu Chiba, a community director at video game developers Aggro Crab Games and Eggnut Games. She quickly discovered that “AmazonOfficial,” “AmazonSupport,” and other desirable names were available and nabbed “AmazonOfficial.” She then decided that she would talk to other players about Amazon’s allegedly poor business practices. These practices include the company forcing its employees to urinate in bottles during their work hours and listening in to consumers through Alexa devices. She has shared her conversations with New World players on her Twitter account.
Chiba has also used her moniker to encourage players to abandon New World and instead try out Final Fantasy XIV. Most players have quickly recognized that Chiba is not an official representative from Amazon and have offered up their own witty replies. She claimed in an interview with Kotaku that she is not deeply concerned about being banned because she does not intend to play the game when it is officially released at the end of August.
Chiba’s comments are not entirely baseless. Amazon admitted this past spring that they were aware that some of their delivery drivers feel pressured to urinate in bottles to save time. Other Amazon employees have claimed that they have been in situations where they have been forced to do the same thing. However, Amazon has denied that this issue impacts their warehousees and other workers.got invited to the new world beta, and I was able to grab the AmazonOfficial name in every server pic.twitter.com/DiJHisc6Zf
— Lulu🌈🎏 (@luulubuu) July 28, 2021
Many consumers have also been suspicious of Alexa and other similar devices. Amazon admitted in 2019 that they hire individuals to listen to voice recordings for a variety of reasons. Amazon claims that users can opt-out of this feature and that “all of our Echo devices are designed with your privacy in mind.” Nevertheless, many consumers remain unconvinced.
The New World beta was released the same day former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos headed to space on a rocket developed by his company Blue Origin. This launch and Bezos’ speech after he returned from space have garnered criticism. Bezos commented,“I want to thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you paid for all of this.” Many have accused Bezos of being tone-deaf as many Amazon workers have been fighting for better pay and working conditions.
Image courtesy of Amazon.
