Amazon Game Studios Steps Away From MMOs as Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty Return to Developers
Amazon Game Studios is effectively stepping away from direct MMO operations in the West, with both Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty being transferred back to their original developers. The decision follows the winding down of New World: Aeternum and marks a major change from Amazon's previous strategy of developing and operating large online worlds.
According to the official Throne and Liberty announcement, Amazon will transfer Western publishing and live operations to NC and its subsidiary FirstSpark Games during Q4 2026. Existing accounts, characters, progression, inventory, game data, regions, and access through Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S are expected to remain intact unless players choose to opt out of the data transfer.
The main changes will involve the publisher, customer support, live operations, service policies, and Terms of Service. Regular content updates and bug fixes are expected to continue, although major releases such as Nix could be held until after the migration is completed. NC will take direct control of the Western version once the transition is finalized.
Lost Ark will follow in early 2027, when Smilegate assumes direct control of Western publishing, live operations, customer support, and the game store. Characters, progression, inventory, purchases, entitlements, and wallet balances will transfer automatically for players who do not opt out. Steam access will remain unchanged, although players will need to accept Smilegate's Terms of Service and connect through its account system after the migration.
Some player generated information will not transfer, including chat history, mail text, friends list notes, blacklist notes, and certain guild and Stronghold messages. Amazon is recommending that players claim important items from their in game mail before the transition. Lost Ark will continue receiving updates and support from Amazon until Smilegate takes control.
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Throne and Liberty: NC and FirstSpark Games take over Western operations in Q4 2026.
Lost Ark: Smilegate takes over Western operations in early 2027.
New World: Aeternum: Already delisted and scheduled to permanently shut down on January 31, 2027.
Amazon confirmed in January that New World: Aeternum will receive no additional content before its servers permanently close. Purchases of in game currency were also disabled beginning July 20, 2026.
Together, these moves effectively end Amazon's direct involvement in operating the major MMO portfolio it spent years building. Lost Ark became one of Steam's largest launches when Amazon introduced it to Western markets in 2022, while Throne and Liberty expanded the company's publishing partnership strategy with major South Korean developers. New World represented Amazon's most significant internally developed MMO investment.
Amazon Game Studios itself continues to operate, but its direction is shifting toward other types of projects rather than maintaining several expensive MMO live services. The transition does not mean Lost Ark or Throne and Liberty are shutting down. Both games will continue under the developers that originally created them, while New World remains the only one of the 3 confirmed for permanent closure.
Amazon's MMO experiment is ending very differently from how it began. Instead of closing Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty, handing control back to Smilegate and NC may ultimately be the healthier option for both communities because development and Western operations will once again sit under the same organizations.
The bigger loss is New World. Amazon built the game internally, expanded it to consoles with Aeternum, and spent years positioning it as a cornerstone of its gaming business. With its shutdown now scheduled for 2027 and its 2 remaining major MMOs returning to their developers, Amazon's push to become a major MMO operator has effectively reached its conclusion.
Do you think Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty will improve under direct control from their original developers, or was Amazon a better Western publishing partner?
