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."

The VP of Amazon Games says the layoffs are part of the 14,000 announced today, but represent broader "strategic changes" at the gaming division.

In a sweeping layoff, Amazon is getting rid of 30k+ people today, and in the future they will remove more and more to replace them with AI.

New World is feeling these layoffs, some people are missing from the discord, and artists are posting on Twitter talking about being laid off. We don't know the full extent of the layoffs yet, as they're going out this morning.

I'm worried for the future of the game.

Edit Update: The Amazon Employees subreddit is saying the entire Irvine AGS studio is gone. That's the one that runs New World.

Edit Update 2: Amazon Games jobs listings do not have the Irvine site listed. Probably confirmation New World is cooked.

Edit Update 3: The AGS LinkedIn page no longer exists. I think we might be cooked cooked.

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."

Free article pass in author's Bluesky post. Feels wrong posting the link with the pass directly.

https://gameworldobserver.com/2025/10/28/report-amazon-to-conduct-massive-layoffs-gaming-division-also-affected

Reports indicate that the layoffs will affect several key Amazon divisions, including the gaming sector. However, the exact number of staff to be cut from the gaming teams is unknown.

In a sweeping layoff, Amazon is getting rid of 30k+ people today, and in the future they will remove more and more to replace them with AI.

New World is feeling these layoffs, some people are missing from the discord, and artists are posting on Twitter talking about being laid off. We don't know the full extent of the layoffs yet, as they're going out this morning.

I'm worried for the future of the game.

Edit Update: The Amazon Employees subreddit is saying the entire Irvine AGS studio is gone. That's the one that runs New World.

Edit Update 2: Amazon Games jobs listings do not have the Irvine site listed. Probably confirmation New World is cooked.

Edit Update 3: The AGS LinkedIn page no longer exists. I think we might be cooked cooked.

My friend from Amazon told me how she saw an entire team, including their manager, get laid off right in front of her eyes — all within seconds. The way they had to leave the office was honestly heartbreaking.

These layoffs are massive; entire orgs are being wiped out. The testing teams in Q3 and Q4 were the first to go. They collected company laptops on the spot, and that was it.

It’s rough out there right now.

Amazon have cancelled their second attempt at a Lord Of The Rings MMO as part of recent mass layoffs, according to a now-former senior gameplay engineer at Amazon Games.

The engineer in question is Ashleigh Amrine, who announced that she had lost her job on LinkedIn yesterday: "This morning I was part of the layoffs at Amazon Games, alongside my incredibly talented peers on New World and our fledgling Lord of the Rings game (y'all would have loved it)," she wrote. I've reached out to Amazon for comment.

Colonial fantasy New World has already been confirmed to be ceasing development, following the recent Nighthaven update, as part of a company-wide shift away from MMOs. Amazon will keep the servers warm through 2026, and say they'll give six months notice before making any changes that render the game unplayable.

Amazon's first LOTR MMO was a collaboration with Chinese company Leyou, announced in 2019. It met an unfortunate end in 2021 thanks to an apparent contractual dispute, after Leyou were acquired by Tencent. Amazon revealed the second LOTR MMO in 2023, after partnering with new Middle-earth rights-owner Embracer. They called it a "persistent open-world MMO adventure", spanning the events of The Hobbit and the LOTR trilogy, but beyond that, we've never heard much about the project.

“Amazon.com Inc. is gutting its video-game division as part of a sweeping layoff that will eliminate more than 14,000 corporate jobs.

The company didn’t say how many roles it will cut in the video-game unit, but noted in a memo to staff on Tuesday that the cuts would largely fall on its offices in Irvine and San Diego, as well at its central publishing division. The company will reduce the amount of work it does on big-budget titles, particularly surrounding massively multiplayer online games or MMOs.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-28/amazon-makes-significant-cuts-in-video-game-division

o7 AGS

Hunger games at Amazon

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/amazons-aws-cloud-computing-unit-cuts-jobs-2025-07-17/