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Deadline
deadline.com › 2025 › 10 › amazon-job-cuts-hit-video-games-division-1236600254
Amazon Job Cuts Hit Video Games Division
October 28, 2025 - Video game development and publishing are taking a hit in a wave of layoffs at Amazon today, including the company’s San Diego and Irvine studios as the division’s head said it’s taking “a critical look at the evolving dynamics of games industry.”
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/mmorpg › amazon games unit hit by layoffs, will halt ‘significant amount’ of aaa development and shift online strategy
r/MMORPG on Reddit: Amazon Games Unit Hit by Layoffs, Will Halt ‘Significant Amount’ of AAA Development and Shift Online Strategy
October 28, 2025 -

It sounds like ALL MMO development has been shuttered (Including LOTR) - per the letter that went out.

"We’ve also taken a critical look at the evolving dynamics of games industry and competitive landscape. While we’re proud of our successes in first-party AAA game development and publishing, we have made the difficult decision to halt a significant amount of our first-party AAA game development work – specifically around MMOs – within Amazon Game Studios, including making significant role reductions in our studios in Irvine and San Diego, as well as our central publishing team.

While these changes are significant, we still have a lot going on in game development. Our Montreal studio recently concluded a successful closed alpha of March of Giants and is working hard to finish the game. Our Studio 5 team just released Courtroom Chaos: Starring Snoop Dogg as the launch title in Luna and will continue their focus on more casual and AI-focused games, optimized for Luna. Finally, we are continuing to work with our external studio partners Crystal Dynamics on an upcoming Tomb Raider title and Maverick Games on an upcoming open world driving game."

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Game Developer
gamedeveloper.com › home › business
Amazon cutting thousands of corporate roles
October 28, 2025 - Chris Kerr, Senior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com ... Update: Amazon has confirmed plans to make approximately 14,000 people redundant within its corporate workforce, including staff within its video game division.
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The Verge
theverge.com › news › entertainment › gaming
Amazon is ditching MMOs and cranking out party games | The Verge
October 28, 2025 - As part of Amazon’s mass layoffs announced today, the company is making “significant” changes to its gaming division, including halting much of its work on first-party AAA MMOs, according to a memo from Steve Boom, VP of audio, Twitch, ...
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Variety
variety.com › 2025 › gaming › news › amazon-games-layoffs-halt-aaa-development-1236563508
Amazon Games Hit by Layoffs, Will Halt AAA Development
October 31, 2025 - ‘Fallout’ Video Game Boss Says ‘We’re Writing Season 3’ of Amazon TV Series Now, Planning More In-Game Storylines 1 week ago ... Amid sweeping layoffs that began throughout ecommerce giant Amazon Tuesday, the company is making “significant” changes to its video games business.
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Game World Observer
gameworldobserver.com › 2025 › 10 › 28 › report-amazon-to-conduct-massive-layoffs-gaming-division-also-affected
Report: Amazon to Conduct Massive Layoffs — Gaming Division Also Affected | Game World Observer
October 28, 2025 - Amazon Corporation is set to announce a significant round of layoffs today, according to sources from Reuters and Bloomberg. As reported, up to 30,000 employees will lose their jobs.
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MMORPG.com
forums.mmorpg.com › discussion › 502975 › amazon-games-confirms-layoffs-of-about-180-employees-a-refocus-on-prime-gaming-benefit-to-customers
Amazon Games Confirms Layoffs of About 180 Employees, a Refocus on Prime Gaming Benefit to Customers — MMORPG.com Forums
So it were basically 180 "imaginary" people that were fired today. As who else are those 180 people at a Gaming Company, focused on publishing and developing games? This got to be one of the most bogus non-answer corporate bullsh!it statements ...
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WebProNews
webpronews.com › amazon-axes-aaa-gaming-dreams-amid-mass-layoffs
Amazon Axes AAA Gaming Dreams Amid Mass Layoffs
October 28, 2025 - Employee reactions on X highlight the emotional toll, with posts lamenting the end of ambitious projects. One X user shared, “Man, this sucks. ☹️ AGS hit among the 33,000 Amazon employee layoffs today,” capturing the sentiment of betrayal ...
Find elsewhere
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Massively Overpowered
massivelyop.com › 2025 › 10 › 28 › amazon-will-reportedly-halt-a-significant-amount-of-first-part-game-dev-specifically-mmos
Amazon will ‘halt a significant amount’ of first-party game dev, specifically MMOs, in mass layoffs | Massively Overpowered
If you saw this morning’s whispers ... the promise of genAI as Amazon execs claimed. Reporting from Bloomberg this afternoon suggests that among the 14,000 people being laid off will be a major chunk of the games – that is, MMO sector – under the Amazon banner....
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/games › amazon lays off 180 employees in its games division
r/Games on Reddit: Amazon Lays Off 180 Employees In Its Games Division
September 15, 2023 - It says the 180 layoffs includes those two teams. For all we know those two teams could be 10 people and the other 170 people could be in their proper game dev teams ... From my reading of, a different article on the same subject, it does sound ...
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Insider Gaming
insider-gaming.com › home › amazon games, twitch hit by layoffs; game development reduced
Amazon Games, Twitch Hit By Layoffs; Game Development Reduced - Insider Gaming
October 28, 2025 - “While we’re proud of our successes in first-party AAA game development and publishing, we have made the difficult decision to halt a significant amount of our first-party AAA game development work – specifically around MMOs – within Amazon Game Studios, including making significant role reductions in our studios in Irvine and San Diego, as well as our central publishing team,” an email sent by vice president of audio, Twitch, and games Steve Boom to employees said. Included in the layoffs was Tarfu, who had been with Twitch for 11 years.
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Spiceworks
spiceworks.com › spiceworks inc › news › amazon lays off over 180 employees in its gaming division
Amazon Lays off Over 180 Employees in Its Gaming Division - Spiceworks
November 15, 2023 - Along with layoffs, the company is shutting down two gaming initiatives: Game Growth and Crown channel. ... Amazon is laying off over 180 employees in its gaming division.
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GamesRadar+
gamesradar.com › mmo games
Amazon Games gutted amid 14,000 layoffs: work on first-party games and MMOs in particular scaled back, "casual and AI-focused games" a continued focus | GamesRadar+
October 28, 2025 - Here’s how it works. ... Amazon confirms it is reducing its global workforce by "approximately 14,000 roles", and there have been substantial cuts across its burgeoning video game division.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/gaming › amazon games unit hit by layoffs, will halt ‘significant amount’ of aaa development and shift online strategy
r/gaming on Reddit: Amazon Games Unit Hit by Layoffs, Will Halt ‘Significant Amount’ of AAA Development and Shift Online Strategy
August 31, 2025 -

It sounds like ALL MMO development has been shuttered (Including LOTR) - per the letter that went out.

"We’ve also taken a critical look at the evolving dynamics of games industry and competitive landscape. While we’re proud of our successes in first-party AAA game development and publishing, we have made the difficult decision to halt a significant amount of our first-party AAA game development work – specifically around MMOs – within Amazon Game Studios, including making significant role reductions in our studios in Irvine and San Diego, as well as our central publishing team.

While these changes are significant, we still have a lot going on in game development. Our Montreal studio recently concluded a successful closed alpha of March of Giants and is working hard to finish the game. Our Studio 5 team just released Courtroom Chaos: Starring Snoop Dogg as the launch title in Luna and will continue their focus on more casual and AI-focused games, optimized for Luna. Finally, we are continuing to work with our external studio partners Crystal Dynamics on an upcoming Tomb Raider title and Maverick Games on an upcoming open world driving game."

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CNBC
cnbc.com › 2023 › 04 › 04 › amazon-lays-off-some-employees-in-its-video-games-unit-read-the-memo.html
Amazon lays off more than 100 employees in its video games division: Read the memo here
April 4, 2023 - And in January, John Smedley, who headed up Amazon Games' San Diego studio, exited the company. A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed the layoffs and the existence of the memo but declined further comment. ... I want to take a moment to make you aware of some changes happening today across the ...
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Whitten & Lublin
toronto-employmentlawyer.com › home › amazon layoffs: 180 positions cut in gaming division
Amazon Layoffs: 180 Positions Cut in Gaming Division - Whitten & Lublin
November 16, 2023 - As part of the restructuring, Amazon will close its Crown Twitch channel and Game Growth, redirecting its focus towards providing free games through Prime Gaming. However, the company will continue its support for ongoing projects. Amazon layoffs contribute to a growing trend of job cuts within the gaming industry this year.
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Yahoo!
ca.finance.yahoo.com › news › amazon-games-unit-hit-layoffs-163648471.html
Amazon Games Unit Hit by Layoffs, Will Halt ‘Significant Amount’ of AAA Development and Shift Online Strategy
October 28, 2025 - Amazon audio, Twitch and games boss Steve Boom says that while the layoffs are happening in connection with the overall company cuts, these reductions also indicate a larger strategy shift within the games business, which consists of Amazon Game Studios, led by Christoph Hartmann, and Amazon Luna, overseen by Jeff Gattis.
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Massively Overpowered
massivelyop.com › 2023 › 11 › 13 › amazon-games-is-hit-with-another-round-of-layoffs-this-time-purging-180-jobs
Amazon Games is hit with another round of layoffs, but the MMORPGs are not affected | Massively Overpowered
Our studios and development teams were not impacted today. We will continue to support Prime Gaming as a benefit of Amazon Prime membership, but have refined that specific offering to focus on ‘Free Games with Prime.’” [Emphasis ours.] Here’s Hartmann’s whole letter to staff, which makes clear that the layoffs are focused on Crown Channel and Game Growth.