Amazon Games Launching Lost Ark In North America and Europe In Fall 2021

Amazon Games announced today that they'll be launching the popular South Korean developed MMORPG Lost Ark in North America and Europe in Fall 2021. The game's closed technical Alpha Test begins on June 11 and runs until June 16th through Steam.

Lost Ark is a AAA free-to-play, massively multiplayer online action role-playing game that is only currently available in Korea, Japan, and Russia, where it boasts millions of active players. Smilegate RPG is among the world’s most successful developers, and whose parent company developed the first person shooter CROSSFIRE, one of the most popular and long running games in the world, boasting more than 8 million concurrent players globally nearly fifteen years after its launch. In Lost Ark players explore the vast and diverse world of Arkesia on their quest to find the fabled Lost Ark and save the realm from a demonic threat. The game features 15 distinct hero classes that offer deep combat with unique combinations of adaptable skill sets utilizing the Tripod Skill system. Players forge their own legend, whether alone or with allies, as they battle through dangerous dungeons, sail by ship and even create their own island home.

While much of the original hype from Lost Ark has died down a bit, its good to finally see the game launching in the West. Keep in mind, Lost Ark was our 'most anticipated MMORPG' back in 2018 and it looks like 3 years later, it's finally launching.

This is also the first game Amazon Games is publishing instead of self-developing. This seems like a pretty smart pivot for Amazon as they haven't had much success with their own titles with games like Breakaway and Crucible shutting down quickly after first launching. The studio also had numerous layoffs already and their other title, New World, has already been delayed a few times (though it looks to be launching soon on August 31, 2021).

Further reading: Official Website