With the farewell to Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty as a western publisher, Amazon ultimately buries its ambitious MMO plans. MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz looks back with a pit of anger at the incredible potential that is dissipating unused.
Almost exactly 10 years ago, Amazon Games went public to present the then new, ambitious plans for the gaming sector. Among them: the MMORPG New World. Not much of these ambitions remains today. The genre of online role-playing games is completely withdrawing in the coming months.
This makes me equally angry and sad. Amazon Games had everything to lead the beleaguered genre of MMORPGs back into a second high phase after a long drought. But when they finally laid a solid foundation for it, they tore it down without reason. But let’s take it step by step…
The great hope from the West
Today, there are only a few western studios that can easily finance and bring an ambitious theme park MMORPG to the finish line. For many decision-makers, it’s simply too expensive and risky to take on such a project. Ensuring a constant supply of content for such a theme park quickly becomes a nightmare. Many experienced developer veterans agree on this.
Amazon Games was one of those studios that could represent the exception to the rule. Thanks to the eponymous corporation backing them up, with its deep pockets and server capacities. For New World, they brought in a whole bunch of experienced developers and, from what I’ve heard, paid them quite well.
Yes, New World itself suffered from many problems at launch, which would negatively impact it for years to come. However, the incredibly successful launch of the MMORPG on Steam impressively demonstrated several things (which would partly play a role again in the later, also very successful launch of Lost Ark):
- With the promise “Amazon Games is releasing a new, ambitious MMORPG” hype can be built
- Through the synergy with Twitch (owned by Amazon), this hype can be strategically intensified
- Due to the long drought period, many genre fans are really eager for a new theme park MMORPG; the potential target audience is there and large
They may have made various mistakes with New World and as the publisher of Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty, but it’s part of game development to make such mistakes, learn from them, and do it better from then on. You can find an analysis of the last 10 years of Amazon Games here:
- Amazon has wanted to be a big player in gaming for 10 years; what is the failure? – Analysis from May 2025
- The end of New World completes a sad story of failure – Update from October 2025
The foundation for greatness was laid in 2025
In fact, we were able to watch last year as Amazon Games managed to turn the tide positively with New World after difficult years. Why?
Because they were finally able to address some of the biggest issues of the MMORPG sustainably with the combination of the Aeternum restart and Season 10. Because they stopped dividing the shrunk community through season servers. And because they removed hurdles for newcomers, returnees, and across platforms (and for example integrated the expansion Rise of the Angry Earth for free into the PC version).
All of these were clever decisions. For the first time, the mood within the community was good. Player numbers increased. That was something to build on.
And then there was the knowledge that Amazon Games, with all its experience and financial power, secured the license for Lord of the Rings to create a real MMORPG. A modern online role-playing game in Middle-earth… with the strengths of New World… just the thought makes me giddy (Sorry, Lord of the Rings Online!). This is a penalty kick without a goalkeeper; you just have to make sure the ball crosses the line.
That would have been the kind of theme park MMORPG that could have given the struggling genre the long-needed shove toward the light. Out of the drought, into the second high phase of the genre. You need a license like Lord of the Rings and a corporation like Amazon for that. But also the willingness to convert that penalty kick…
AI junk instead of Middle-earth dream
Instead, Amazon got a sledgehammer a short time later and dismantled this promising foundation into its components. New World? Is being buried despite the current upswing. The “Lord of the Rings” MMORPG? Is being swept under the rug. Now they have also waved goodbye as the publisher of Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty. The topic of MMORPGs is now history.
From the original ambitions to become a big player in the gaming industry, only the two Tomb Raider projects currently testify. Otherwise, Amazon is now focusing on feeding its in-house gaming service Luna with small games – including various AI junk like the two Courtroom Chaos parts with Snoop Dogg and Arnold Schwarzenegger (here’s the current game overview from Amazon Games).
Yep, instead of the MMORPG dream in Middle-earth, there are now judgments from AI judge Snoop Dogg. That can’t just frustrate me, right? How do you view Amazon Games, New World, and what has become of it all? Feel free to share it with me in the comments. Fairly, I must finally note that not only Amazon has disappointed: Only 1 major MMORPG from the West in 12 years shows the collective failure of an entire industry
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