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Amazon has just ghosted its MMOs in its latest move to give up on gaming
Amazon Game Studios is withdrawing from the MMO publishing business, ending its involvement with Throne and Liberty and Lost Ark while preparing to close New World: Aeternum. The move further reduces Amazon’s direct role in games after a mixed record in developing and publishing major online titles.
Amazon will hand Throne and Liberty back to FirstSpark Games and NC by the end of the fourth quarter of 2026, with players expected to opt in to transfer their data. Lost Ark will return to developer Smilegate in early 2027; characters and progression should transfer, but messages, friend lists and blacklists may be lost. New World: Aeternum, whose active development ended in late 2025, is scheduled to close on 31 January 2027.
In short
- Amazon is exiting MMO publishing.
- Lost Ark moves to Smilegate in 2027.
- New World closes in January 2027.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Amazon's decision reflects prudent business strategy in acknowledging that despite substantial investment, these MMOs failed to achieve commercial viability in an extremely competitive market. Rather than continuing to allocate capital to non-core ventures where it lacked competitive advantage, the company is responsibly redeploying resources elsewhere. The company is also attempting to mitigate the impact on players by transferring games to original developers rather than simply shutting them down entirely, which represents a reasonable compromise between business reality and community responsibility.
The case against
Amazon's departure represents a significant breach of faith with millions of players who invested substantial time, money and emotional energy building communities within these games. A company with Amazon's vast resources had the financial capacity to nurture these ventures longer and give them genuine opportunity to develop sustainable audiences, rather than abandoning them as failed short-term investments. The practical consequences—disrupted communities and lost functionality including messages and friend connections—demonstrate real costs imposed on players, and critics argue that such a well-resourced company should either commit meaningfully to these spaces or refrain from entering them at all.
Explained simply
Amazon entered game publishing as well as making games, including large online role-playing games known as MMOs, where many players share a persistent world. Throne and Liberty was developed by FirstSpark Games and NC, while Lost Ark was made by Smilegate; Amazon published both in Western markets. New World: Aeternum was developed by Amazon’s own studio.
The games depend on ongoing support, servers and communities, so a change of publisher or a shutdown can affect players’ access and the data attached to their accounts. Amazon’s retreat follows a mixed record in major online games and reduces its role in running and publishing them.
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