Amazon are getting out of the MMO game, handing control of Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty to developers, but it won’t all be smooth for players
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
Amazon Games will hand control of Lost Ark’s Western servers to developer Smilegate in early 2027, while Throne and Liberty will move to FirstSpark Games by the end of this year. The games will continue operating, but Lost Ark players face some account-data losses and subscription disruption during the transfer. The changes reflect Amazon’s wider withdrawal from MMO development and publishing after ending New World development and cancelling its Lord of the Rings MMO.
Lost Ark characters, progression, inventory, entitlements and wallet balances are expected to transfer, but chat histories, in-game mail, friends-list notes and group names will not. Active subscriptions will be cancelled before the handover, Amazon has stopped selling 12-month subscriptions, and arrangements for unused prepaid time are still being finalised. Smilegate plans to reduce the gap between Korean and Western updates gradually, with the eventual aim of simultaneous releases; Throne and Liberty’s transfer is expected to involve less disruption.
- Lost Ark moves to Smilegate in early 2027.
- Some Lost Ark account history will be lost.
- Throne and Liberty transfers this year.
New here? Start with this
Amazon Games has published and run the Western versions of several online role-playing games, including Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty. These games are known as massively multiplayer online games, or MMOs: large numbers of people play in the same persistent online world, often over many years.
Lost Ark was made by the South Korean studio Smilegate, while Throne and Liberty was developed by FirstSpark Games, part of the Korean company NCSoft. Amazon’s role has been to operate the games for players in Europe and North America, including servers, payments, customer support and local versions of updates.
The handovers mean the original developers will take on those responsibilities in the West. For players, the important issue is whether their characters, purchases and subscriptions move over reliably, and how quickly the Western versions receive the same new content as the Korean releases.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Supporters may argue that returning control to the original developers gives both games a clearer long-term future, with teams that have the deepest technical knowledge and the strongest incentive to sustain their communities. Smilegate’s intention to narrow the gap between Korean and Western updates could make Lost Ark’s Western service more responsive and better aligned with the game’s main development. A managed transfer, even with some disruption, may be preferable to continued uncertainty after Amazon’s retreat from MMOs.
The case against
Critics may argue that players are being asked to bear real costs for a corporate restructuring they did not choose, particularly through lost social and communication data, cancelled subscriptions and unresolved prepaid-time arrangements. Even if characters and purchases transfer, friends-list notes, group identities and mail can represent years of community-building, while any account migration creates anxiety about errors and support gaps. They may also question whether developer control alone guarantees better service, given the disruption and uncertainty during the transition.
More coverage