Amazon Exits the MMO Market

Amazon is officially stepping away from the MMO scene. Following last year’s announcement that it would significantly reduce its focus on first-party AAA titles, particularly in the MMO genre, the company revealed on Wednesday that it will transfer the live operations of Throne and Liberty and Lost Ark in the West to other developers. FirstSpark Games and NC will take over Throne and Liberty in Q4 2026, while Smilegate will manage Lost Ark starting in early 2027.

In conjunction with this shift, the team behind another MMO, New World: Aeternum, announced that they would cease new content updates. As of January, the game is no longer available for purchase and is set to go offline on January 31, 2027.

Amazon’s current gaming strategy is now more focused on its Luna cloud gaming service, along with party games designed for TV play using mobile devices, featuring AI-driven characters like Snoop Dogg and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Additionally, the company is developing games linked to other franchises it is involved with, such as James Bond and Tomb Raider. The head of Amazon’s gaming division elaborated on this new direction in a recent interview.