Amazon Is Stepping Away From MMOs as Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty Change Hands

Amazon Game Studios appears ready to leave the MMO business behind, with the company preparing to hand Western operations of Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty back to the studios responsible for creating them.

Amazon detailed the upcoming changes in separate announcements for each game. The transition for Throne and Liberty is scheduled for Q4 2026, when NC, formerly known as NCSoft, will assume control of Western operations. Lost Ark will follow in early 2027, with Smilegate taking full responsibility for the game.

Amazon Is Handing Back Its Major Korean MMOs

Although Amazon didn’t develop either MMO, it played a major role in bringing them to Western audiences. The company served as publisher while also overseeing live-service operations and customer support in Western markets.

Both free-to-play titles enjoyed impressive launches. Lost Ark was particularly successful, attracting enormous player numbers on Steam when its Western version debuted in 2022. However, the player populations of both games have declined significantly since their respective launches.

For existing players, the upcoming transitions aren’t expected to dramatically change either game in the immediate future.

Player Progress Will Mostly Carry Over

Both Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty will continue operating in Western markets after their developers take control.

Some downtime is likely during the handover process, but most character progression and player data will transfer to the new operators.

There is one notable change for Throne and Liberty. Following the transition to NC, cross-progression between the Steam and console versions will no longer be supported.

Players who are comfortable with the transfer won’t need to manually migrate their accounts. Instead, the process is expected to happen automatically, with players simply required to accept a new terms of service agreement when logging in for the first time following the transition.

Players Can Opt Out of the Data Transfer

Anyone who doesn’t want their information transferred will have the option to opt out.

There is a major consequence to doing so, however. Characters, items, progression, and other associated data won’t move to the new operator, effectively forcing those players to start over if they decide to continue playing afterward.

For everyone who accepts the transition, the process should be relatively seamless.

Amazon Once Had Big Plans for MMOs

The move represents a dramatic shift from Amazon’s gaming strategy just a few years ago.

Amazon once looked determined to establish itself as one of the biggest Western companies in the MMO market. Its internally developed New World launched in 2021 and initially attracted huge numbers of players on Steam, although it struggled to maintain that momentum over the long term.

Amazon expanded its MMO ambitions the following year by publishing and operating Smilegate’s Lost Ark in Western markets. The company followed essentially the same strategy with NC’s Throne and Liberty in 2024.

There were even plans for Amazon to publish Bandai Namco’s anime-inspired MMO Blue Protocol in the West. Those plans ultimately fell apart when the Western version was canceled entirely as the game’s service came to an end in Japan.

New World Is Shutting Down Too

Amazon’s retreat from the genre goes beyond simply handing its publishing responsibilities back to NC and Smilegate.

Earlier this year, the company announced that New World’s servers will shut down in early 2027.

The decision came after the MMO expanded to consoles in 2024 and received a series of well-received updates that had given parts of the community renewed optimism about its future.

Amazon’s developers were also working on a new Lord of the Rings MMO. That project was reportedly canceled amid layoffs at Amazon Game Studios, further signaling the company’s reduced focus on large-scale MMO development.

Amazon’s MMO Era Is Coming to an End

With New World heading toward shutdown, Throne and Liberty returning to NC, and Lost Ark moving fully into Smilegate’s hands, Amazon’s once-ambitious MMO strategy is rapidly disappearing.

The company went from launching its own major MMO and operating some of South Korea’s biggest online games in Western markets to effectively exiting the genre within only a few years.

Once the Lost Ark transition is completed in early 2027, Amazon’s brief but eventful period as a major MMO publisher and operator will essentially be over.