Amazon Cuts Throne of Liberty and Lost Ark—Devs To Take Over Servers

Following a round of layoffs and the apparent cancellation of an in-progress Lord of the Rings MMO, Amazon has officially cancelled active development of both Throne of Liberty and Lost Ark, announcing that it would hand off server management to each game's respective dev team. This is only Amazon's latest move in what was previously revealed to be a shift in strategy away from game development.

This means that Throne of Liberty will be fully in the hands of NCSoft's Western division, FirstSpark Games, and Lost Ark will be handed over to Smilegate. Lost Ark is expected to transition to its new management in early 2027, while Throne of Liberty will move over in Q4 2026, although no specific dates have been set. From a player perspective, there will be changes, but both studios have promised to minimize interruptions.