When Amazon announced the definitive closure of New World for the end of January 2027, many Lost Ark players looked at their own game and reached an uncomfortable conclusion: “If New World wasn’t enough to survive at Amazon Games, what guarantees that Lost Ark will last years?” That question has been haunting the community for months, and this week it has returned with more force than ever after several members of the Lost Ark team at Amazon publicly confirmed their dismissals.

Those affected by the layoffs are well known within the community. One of them is Roxanne Sabo, community manager, who was the first to announce it on X/Twitter with an emotional message, recalling her “almost five years of work” and assuring that the Lost Ark community would always be “her proudest achievement.” Shortly after, producer Henry Stelter also confirmed his departure after nine years at Amazon, and CM Sean Hamilton indicated that “many colleagues and friends” had been affected by the cuts alongside him.

Is Lost Ark in Danger?

Amazon acknowledged the changes with a statement on the game’s official website in which it thanks the contributions of those affected and assures that it will continue working to “improve the game and move Lost Ark forward with each update.” The problem for many players is that these kinds of statements are similar to those heard before the announcement of New World‘s closure. On the game’s subreddit, the general consensus is that Lost Ark could end up closing as well.

However, there is an important detail that tends to be overlooked. New World‘s development was internal to Amazon, while Lost Ark is developed and updated by the Korean studio Smilegate, with Amazon‘s role limited to localization and managing the service in the West. While Amazon could withdraw in the future given its track record of failures in the gaming sector, another publisher could take over for the Western market. However, that seems unlikely given that Lost Ark‘s daily player count fluctuates between 9K-12K, the improvements promised for the MMORPG last year have had no effect, and the most recent Steam reviews are “Mostly Negative.” Everything points in the wrong direction.

Source: 3djuegos