Amazon Hands Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty to New Publishers

Amazon Game Studios is stepping away from publishing two major MMOs. Throne and Liberty will leave Amazon’s western publishing operation in the fourth quarter of 2026, while Lost Ark is scheduled to make the same transition in early 2027.

Throne and Liberty changes publisher first

Publishing responsibility for Throne and Liberty will return to FirstSpark Games and NC, formerly known as NCSoft, during Q4 2026.

Players on PC and consoles are expected to retain access to their existing characters and accounts, provided they agree to have their data transferred to NC. Anyone who does not want their information moved can opt out.

Lost Ark follows in early 2027

Lost Ark will change hands in early 2027, with developer Smilegate taking over western publishing duties. The transition is intended to preserve players’ progression, account details, ship names, playlist names and NPC names.

Some social and communication data will not carry across. This includes messages and memos connected with in-game mail, friends lists, blacklists, guilds, strongholds and chats. Players can also decline the transfer if they do not want Smilegate to receive their data. The game’s western transition is outlined in the official Lost Ark announcement.

A wider retreat from game publishing

Amazon presented itself as a leading MMO publisher during the early 2020s. Its gaming division released New World and helped bring Asian online games including Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty to North America and Europe.

That strategy began to unwind last October. Since then, Amazon has announced an end-of-service date for New World, closed King of Meat, stopped publishing Maverick Games’ Clutch and the MOBA March of Giants, and laid off developers.

What remains in Amazon’s gaming plans?

At present, Amazon Game Studios is still committed to publishing Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, Tomb Raider: Catalyst and party games for its Luna cloud-gaming service.

Amazon gaming general manager Jeff Gattis has also said the company remains interested in publishing future James Bond games. That leaves the division’s long-term direction considerably narrower than its earlier MMO ambitions.

Platforms and player considerations

• Lost Ark is available on Windows PC.
• Throne and Liberty is available on PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X.
• Both publisher changes include an option for players to refuse the relevant account-data transfer.
• The Lost Ark handover preserves progression and selected names, but not several social records and messages.

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Related MMO coverage

Lost Ark has been noted for its endgame design and action-RPG combat, while Throne and Liberty represents another major Asian MMO brought to western audiences through Amazon’s publishing programme.

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The publisher changes do not mean either MMO is immediately unavailable. Their announced handovers are planned for late 2026 and early 2027 respectively, with the stated account-transfer choices applying during those transitions.