Overview

Amazon Game Studios is Amazon’s division dedicated to video game development and publishing. Created in 2012, it began modestly with social and mobile productions before gradually moving toward much more ambitious PC and console games.

Its current operation is built around two complementary activities.

The first is internal development. Teams belonging directly to Amazon work on their own projects, the most important example being New World, an MMO developed by the Orange County studio and launched on PC in 2021 before evolving into New World: Aeternum on PC and consoles.

The second is publishing games developed by external studios. Depending on the project, Amazon then handles international publishing, localization, marketing, online infrastructure, operations and community support, without becoming the original developer.

This activity took on real scale with Lost Ark. The game was created by the Korean studio Smilegate RPG, while Amazon has handled its Western publishing since 2022. The same model was later applied to THRONE AND LIBERTY, developed by NCSOFT and published by Amazon in several regions from 2024 onward.

Amazon has also expanded its partnerships into other genres. King of Meat, developed by the British studio Glowmade, was released in 2025 under its label. The group is also working with Crystal Dynamics around Tomb Raider, with Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider: Catalyst.

This evolution is gradually moving Amazon Game Studios away from an identity focused only on MMOs. Persistent online games remain important, but the company now seeks to combine online worlds, cooperative experiences, original creations and major single-player adventures.

The name of the activity itself has also evolved over time. Created under the Amazon Game Studios identity, it communicated for several years under the name Amazon Games before returning to Amazon Game Studios as its official brand. In all cases, it remains a division of Amazon, not an independent company.

In 2026, the company notably has studios and teams in Orange County, San Diego and Bucharest, alongside several offices dedicated to development, publishing and related services.

Amazon Game Studios therefore occupies a particular position: that of a publisher capable of directly producing some games while also using Amazon’s global resources to support independent studios and major international developers.

History

2012-2016 — From social games to AAA ambitions

Amazon Game Studios emerged in 2012.

Its first productions were still very far from the major games later associated with the brand. Living Classics, released on Facebook, marked its beginnings during the summer, followed a few months later by Air Patriots, its first game aimed at mobile devices.

These projects reflected the Amazon ecosystem of the time: Kindle Fire, the Amazon Appstore, online services and games accessible across multiple devices.

The ambition quickly increased.

Amazon hired experienced developers and began building several teams intended to produce larger PC and console games. The company also wanted to make use of the wider group’s services — notably AWS and Twitch — to support its future productions.

This period led to several more ambitious projects, including Breakaway, Crucible and New World.

Not all of them would follow the same path.

2020-2021 — Crucible, then the New World turning point

In May 2020, Amazon launched Crucible, a multiplayer action game developed by Relentless Studios.

The project had a particularly short life. After launch, it quickly returned to closed beta and development was eventually discontinued only a few months later.

This failure illustrated the difficulties Amazon faced in translating its substantial technological resources into games capable of finding a lasting audience.

The real change came with New World.

Developed by the Orange County team, the MMO was finally released on September 28, 2021 for PC. Its launch gave Amazon, for the first time, an internally developed production able to establish itself at large scale and support an activity over several years.

New World also became a learning ground for operating a live-service game: servers, updates, communities, economy, events and evolving content became part of the publisher’s day-to-day work.

This experience directly fed into another strategy already being prepared: publishing games made by other developers.

2022-2024 — Lost Ark confirms the international publishing role

In 2022, Amazon published Lost Ark in the West, developed by Smilegate RPG.

The difference from New World is essential.

Amazon did not create Lost Ark. The game already existed in Korea and other markets. Its role was to prepare and operate a version aimed notably at North America, Europe and other Western territories.

The success of the launch demonstrated that the company could use its infrastructure, publishing and community-management expertise without having to develop every game itself.

This strategy became a genuine pillar.

In 2023, Amazon announced a partnership with NCSOFT to publish THRONE AND LIBERTY in North America, South America, Europe and Japan.

The MMO was released in those regions in October 2024 on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

During the same period, New World evolved into New World: Aeternum, adapting the experience to consoles and introducing cross-play between platforms.

Amazon now had two clearly identifiable roles: creating certain games internally and becoming the international publishing partner of studios that already had their own development expertise.

2025-2026 — Diversifying beyond MMOs

This publishing logic gradually expanded to other types of games.

In 2025, Amazon published King of Meat, a cooperative game developed by Glowmade. The project differs greatly from New World, Lost Ark and THRONE AND LIBERTY through its tone, structure and emphasis on player-created dungeons.

The collaboration with Crystal Dynamics marks yet another kind of step.

Amazon had already announced in 2022 that it would publish the next major Tomb Raider installment. By the end of 2025, the partnership had taken a more precise form with two separate productions.

Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a reimagining of the original 1996 game developed with Crystal Dynamics and Flying Wild Hog, is announced for 2026.

Tomb Raider: Catalyst, a new major installment developed by Crystal Dynamics, is planned for 2027.

Here, Amazon becomes publisher of a historic franchise mainly associated with narrative single-player adventures, a space quite different from the online games that had previously dominated its catalogue.

The company is also continuing to develop its internal studios. A new studio notably opened in Bucharest in 2024, while Orange County remains associated with New World and the development of a The Lord of the Rings MMO announced with Middle-earth Enterprises.

In 2026, the strategy therefore appears broader than at the beginning of the decade: Amazon Game Studios is seeking less to impose a single type of game than to build a portfolio combining internal productions and external partnerships.

What sets it apart

Being both a developer and a publisher

The main particularity of Amazon Game Studios comes from this dual role.

New World is developed directly by an Amazon team.

Lost Ark remains a creation of Smilegate RPG.

THRONE AND LIBERTY is developed by NCSOFT.

King of Meat comes from Glowmade, while Tomb Raider remains developed by Crystal Dynamics and its partners.

The presence of the Amazon name must therefore never erase the actual developer of a game.

Its role changes depending on the project: internal creation in some cases, funding and international publishing in others.

Building itself gradually rather than through immediate success

Amazon has considerable resources, but its establishment in video games was not immediate.

Between the first small games of 2012, cancelled projects, the failure of Crucible and delays to New World, the company went through almost a decade of experimentation before reaching a more stable position.

New World and then Lost Ark represent a genuine turning point in this respect.

The first validated Amazon’s internal development capability more strongly; the second demonstrated its ability to act as an international publisher for an external partner.

Using infrastructure that extends beyond development alone

Amazon Game Studios operates within a group that also owns AWS, Twitch, Prime and Luna.

These activities remain distinct, but they provide an unusual environment for a game publisher: cloud infrastructure, livestreaming, content distribution, subscriptions and digital services all belong to the same group.

This obviously does not guarantee a game’s success, but it gives Amazon distinctive resources for supporting global productions and large communities.

Gradually broadening its identity

For several years, Amazon Games was mainly associated with persistent multiplayer games.

New World, Lost Ark and THRONE AND LIBERTY naturally reinforced that image.

But King of Meat and later the Tomb Raider projects show an evolution.

The company now seeks to publish very different experiences, including single-player adventures built around a historic franchise.

This diversification matters: Amazon Game Studios is no longer looking only for its next MMO, but for an identity as a publisher able to operate across several genres.

Good to know

  • Amazon Game Studios began in 2012, with Living Classics on Facebook followed by Air Patriots on mobile.
  • The entity is a division of Amazon and combines internal development with publishing activities.
  • New World, developed by Amazon Games Orange County, was released on PC in September 2021 before evolving into New World: Aeternum on PC and consoles.
  • Lost Ark is developed by Smilegate RPG; Amazon has handled its publishing in major Western markets since 2022.
  • THRONE AND LIBERTY is developed by NCSOFT and has been published by Amazon in several regions since October 2024.
  • Amazon also publishes King of Meat, developed by Glowmade and released in 2025.
  • The company publishes the new Tomb Raider projects from Crystal Dynamics, with Legacy of Atlantis announced for 2026 and Catalyst for 2027.
  • In 2026, the official name in use is once again Amazon Game Studios, with development and publishing teams spread across several cities in the United States and Europe.