14,000 Jobs Cut at Amazon as Gaming Division Winds Down MMO Projects

Amazon has announced it will cut around 14,000 jobs, with its gaming division, Amazon Games, among the hardest hit.

Amazon Layoffs Hit Gaming Division: New World Development Ends With Season 10

The company confirmed the layoffs as part of what it calls “continuing to strengthen organizations,” aimed at reducing bureaucracy and shifting resources toward areas it considers its biggest bets. In a statement posted on Amazon’s website, Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology, explained that while some areas will continue hiring, the overall corporate workforce will shrink by approximately 14,000 roles.

According to Reuters, the cuts will affect multiple divisions, including human resources, operations, devices and services, Twitch, and even Amazon Web Services (AWS), which recently made headlines after an outage took down parts of the internet, including Fortnite, Roblox, PUBG, and PlayStation Network (PSN).

For gamers, the most significant impact is on Amazon Games, which has faced a turbulent history since its inception. Bloomberg reported that the company is making major cuts at its Irvine and San Diego offices, particularly scaling back work on big-budget MMO projects. Steve Boom, Amazon’s vice president overseeing Twitch, audio, and games, told employees in an internal email that the company is halting a “significant amount” of its first-party AAA development, especially around MMOs.

This decision directly affects New World: Aeternum, Amazon’s internally developed MMORPG. Once seen as a bright spot for the company after its 2021 PC launch, the game will now end development with Season 10: Nighthaven, which rolled out earlier this month. Servers will remain online until 2026, but no new content will be added. Both Nighthaven and the earlier Rise of the Angry Earth expansion have been made free for PC players as a thank-you to the community.

The layoffs also cast uncertainty over Amazon’s other gaming projects. The company had been working on a new MMO set in The Lord of the Rings universe through its Orange County studio, though its future is now unclear. Publishing deals with Maverick Games, an independent studio founded by former Playground Games staff working on an open-world racing title, and Crystal Dynamics, which is developing the next Tomb Raider, are still active, but neither project has a release date. Boom reassured staff that these partnerships remain part of Amazon’s strategy, though the company is shifting focus toward more “console-friendly titles, known IPs, or known play patterns,” as he told Variety.

Amazon’s gaming journey has been rocky. The ill-fated hero shooter Crucible was pulled back into beta before being canceled outright, while the Western launch of Throne and Liberty in 2024 was widely criticized. Even its recent co-op title King of Meat failed to gain traction, with SteamDB showing only a handful of active players. Despite these setbacks, Amazon did find some success publishing Lost Ark in 2022, which was developed by Smilegate and enjoyed a strong launch.

So why is Amazon making these cuts now, especially when the company is still profitable? Galetti pointed to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, calling it “the most transformative technology we’ve seen since the Internet.” She argued that Amazon needs to be leaner, with fewer layers of management, to move quickly and take advantage of AI-driven innovation. CEO Andy Jassy has also been vocal about targeting what he sees as “an excess of bureaucracy” within the company.

For employees, the situation is grim. Those affected have 90 days to find a new role internally. If unsuccessful, they will receive severance pay, health benefits, and outplacement services. For players, the news is bittersweet. While New World will continue running for another year, its development journey has officially ended.

Looking ahead, Amazon seems intent on pivoting toward its Luna cloud gaming platform and smaller, more casual projects, while still holding onto a few high-profile publishing deals.