Amazon announced plans to eliminate over 14,000 positions across the company, with substantial cuts affecting its video game divisions—the groups behind titles such as New World and Lost Ark. According to a Bloomberg report, the move is part of a broader strategic pivot that includes dialing back investment in the MMO space while accelerating efforts around artificial intelligence.

In a letter to employees, Beth Galetti, Amazon’s senior vice president of People Experience and Technology, explained the changes are intended to streamline decision-making by removing layers of bureaucracy and reallocating resources to the company’s highest-priority initiatives. She said the net result will be an overall reduction of roughly 14,000 corporate roles, even as hiring continues in other areas.

Galetti described AI as an especially consequential technology—comparable, she suggested, to the internet in its potential to reshape Amazon’s business—and framed the organizational adjustments as necessary to move faster and deliver greater value to customers.

At the time of publication it has not been publicly confirmed which individual studios or teams within Amazon’s game division were impacted or the scope of those reductions. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by these changes.

Source: Bloomberg · Amazon employee letter