Overview
- Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will transfer Throne & Liberty to NC/FirstSpark in Q4 2026 and end its Western Lost Ark operations in early 2027 when Smilegate takes over.
- Player accounts, characters, progression, purchases, entitlements, and wallet balances will migrate automatically unless players opt out but some free-text data such as mail, chat history, and certain social notes will not transfer.
- Throne & Liberty will remain available on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox with cross-play intact while NC adds its PURPLE platform and supports cross-progression only between Steam and PURPLE.
- Amazon warned that major content releases may be delayed to support the migrations, some localized services and subscription options could be removed, and Smilegate will assume Lost Ark’s official sites and community channels after the handoff.
- The moves follow years of heavy live-service investment and recent scaling back at Amazon Game Studios and they signal a shift away from operating large MMOs in the West that could change support rhythms and local features for players.