Amazon to rescind its publisher role on Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty by early 2027

Amazon Games is exiting its publishing role on two of its biggest MMO partnerships, with Lost Ark and Throne and Liberty set to return to their original developers by early 2027. That means Amazon’s publishing, distribution, and live-ops responsibilities for both games will wind down over the next couple of years, rather than ending abruptly.

For developers, this is a useful case study in how long-tail publishing agreements can shift after launch. MMOs are especially sensitive to publisher changes because they depend on ongoing content cadence, monetization, community management, customer support, and regional infrastructure. Even when the game itself stays live, a publisher transition can affect everything from patch timing to account services and marketing strategy.

The exact operational split for the handoff hasn’t been disclosed, so the main unknown is how much of the existing publishing pipeline will be preserved versus rebuilt. If the original developers take back more direct control, they may gain tighter alignment between design, live ops, and business decisions, but they also inherit the burden of running a large-scale service game across multiple territories.

The broader takeaway is that publishing relationships are not static, even for successful online games. Teams building or negotiating similar deals should assume eventual transition planning matters: data ownership, support obligations, regional compliance, and live-service tooling all become critical when a publisher steps away.