With the recent layoffs and the end of New World, Amazon admits that the project of becoming a “big player in the gaming industry” has failed. MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz sheds light on the failures.
This is basically a continuation of my article Amazon has been wanting to be a big player in games for 10 years, now the Lord of the Rings must fix it from May 2025. Triggered by the recent bad news that Amazon Games intends to put its MMORPG New World into maintenance mode after just 4 years.
And things are not looking good for the ambitious MMORPG for the Lord of the Rings, which was to be created under contract with Embracer at Amazon Games (and on which the hopes of many fans rested). Although an official confirmation of the cancellation of the development is still pending, the studios in Irvine and San Diego have lost substantial resources due to the recent wave of layoffs at Amazon.
Additionally, there are statements from affected developers indicating that the Lord of the Rings project may have been canceled. Ashleigh Amrine (Senior Gameplay Engineer and Tech Lead at Amazon Games) posted on linkedin.com:
This morning, along with my incredibly talented colleagues from New World and our still young Lord of the Rings game, I was part of the wave of layoffs at Amazon Games. It is always hard to see such a strong team go through something like this—I was lucky to work with some of the most capable, creative, and kindest developers I have ever met.
When comparing this current statement to an older screenshot on Reddit, it is noticeable that a part has been removed, specifically after the still young Lord of the Rings game: “You all would have loved it.” A clear indication that it is no longer coming.
Perhaps Ashleigh Amrine had to adjust that part because there is still no official confirmation for the end of the Lord of the Rings MMORPG—publicly traded companies can see such announcements quickly have a noticeable impact on the stock prices of affected parties. Maybe the project is not completely off the table. We will only know once Amazon Games comments on it.
Nighthaven will be the last update for New World; here is the trailer:
Success can’t just be bought
As bitter as it is that New World is supposed to end right now—after all, the developers had just managed to positively sway the long-critical community after difficult years—this decision fits well with the worst possible timing in the previous journey of Amazon Games.
- Out of the first 3 major games projects, only New World was released. The 4vs4 “sport brawler” Breakaway and the multiplayer survival sandbox shooter Crucible failed during development or at launch.
- New World had a strong launch but struggled due to troubled development from the outset with many problems. Player numbers dropped quickly. Various issues remained in the game for years. The new studio had simply bitten off more than it could chew in the challenging MMORPG genre.
- Since 2016, Amazon Games has hardly been able to publish anything tangible besides New World: a game adaptation for the series “The Grand Tour Game” and a Twitch extension for Dragon’s Lair.
- However, the list of canceled projects is long. Besides Breakaway and Crucible, Nova, Intensity, and the Lord of the Rings MMORPG that was to be developed in collaboration with the Chinese partner Leyou Technologies are also on it. And now, of course, also New World and possibly the second Lord of the Rings game.
With the publishing sector, they were able to build a second pillar and publish and support well-known MMORPGs like Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty in the West.
But even there, Amazon Games received a lot of criticism from the community. Partly due to the peculiarities of Asian online role-playing games, which, despite extensive adjustments for the Western market, could not be completely eradicated. Partly, they made avoidable mistakes; here are a few examples:
- During a Gamescom presentation of New World in 2021 on Twitch, they received a timeout when “Lost Ark” was typed in the chat. Apparently, someone wanted everyone to focus on New World.
- Announcements for New World accidentally ended up on the Lost Ark channels, and vice versa.
- For a while, proper patch notes for the updates of Lost Ark were missing.
- There was trouble surrounding a withheld roadmap that had already gone live in Russia.
All of this impressively shows that even a mega-corporation cannot simply buy success in a desired field. With the recent adjustments for New World and a strong brand like the Lord of the Rings behind it, Amazon Games seemed to be on the right path. Now … how wrong one can be.
Another MMORPG is still doing really well, thanks to a new expansion:
A community can’t believe it
Numerous reactions on various platforms clearly show how hard the sudden end of New World affects a large part of the community. The comments of many MeinMMO readers under our article about the end of the MMORPG by Amazon Games reflect that this news is moving.
- KenSasaki writes: “Absolutely fatal, what’s happening right now. I have never played New World, I have to say directly, but when you look at the situation as a whole, it’s all terrifying. That’s exactly why so many players are afraid to jump into completely new/current MMOs; everyone wants to be able to enjoy something long-term with an MMO and not have to fear that ‘after a few years, it’s all gone.’”
- EsmaraldV explains: “Wow … this is really a bad news … New World is currently so much fun and is on such a good path … the current DLC and NW in general are among the best content I have played in MMORPGs … and just now, at its peak, it’s being shut down? This is just a kick in the gut! If they had shut it down before the DLC, I wouldn’t have cared much, but now that it’s finally fun?! I don’t understand…”
- Nyxaro feels the same way: “Finally, New World is fun again and then this. Unbelievable … then I guess I have to go look for a good game … too bad.
Definitely nothing more from Amazon. I’ll cancel Prime too.” - skp adds, looking at an official statement regarding the Lord of the Rings MMORPG: “MMORPGs need patience, vision, and persistence—all things that Amazon apparently cannot deliver. Therefore, I honestly don’t care what they announce—trust is gone for now.”
Some may not accept the premature end of New World. Shortly after the announcement, a petition for the rescue of the MMORPG was launched on change.org, which is now hoping for numerous signatures.
What remains of Amazon Games?
Unfortunately, not much. With the immensely successful launch of New World, a historical mark was set on Steam that will likely remain in the top 15 for a long time. However, that cannot be bought today.
The online role-playing game has so much potential (especially with the current realignment) that in a few years, we will surely look back on New World, as is currently the case with comparable fan favorites like Wildstar or Warhammer Online. Just like the saying goes: Too soon dead to truly tap into the potential that was there.
If the premature end of the MMO for Lord of the Rings turns out to be true, it will be Amazon Games’ likely last chance to develop a sustainable hit on its own.
Then there are only the successes as a publisher left, with the immensely successful launch of Lost Ark on Steam, which may still be complemented by—projects like the new Tomb Raider from Crystal Dynamics that have not yet been canceled.
It leaves, after about 10 years, a sad balance. All the more so when considering the possibilities Amazon brings on paper, particularly regarding Twitch synergies, capital, and server technologies. How difficult it is to achieve sustainable success despite such conditions is shown by the example of Xbox: Microsoft’s billions are finally paying off, the Xbox Game Pass is more valuable than ever
