According to the Korean industry publication Inven Global, Amazon paid approximately $70 million for the rights to publish the game worldwide. The contract was supposed to be valid until September 30, 2028, with an option to extend until 2029. At the same time, NCSoft allegedly already received the full amount, and the new agreement does not provide for its partial refund.
In the West, Throne and Liberty was released on October 1, 2024, and launched on Steam with 336,300 concurrent players. However, in less than a year, the game lost 95% of its audience.
Reasons cited include a strong emphasis on guilds and open-world PvP, excessive grinding, and controversial monetization with paid currency tied to the auction house. Amazon is also shutting down New World and abandoning Lost Ark, betting on Luna and AI games.