Amazon Games appears everywhere along with the NA/EU release of Lost Ark, from their logo being on the start-up screen to their name appearing everywhere alongside Smitegate RPG.
The presence of Amazon Games in the material surrounding Lost Ark, as well as the fact that they’re listed inside the game, has made some players believe that they’re behind it.
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But what is Amazon’s, or more specifically Amazon Games’ role in the release of Lost Ark in North America and Europe?
Amazon Games, a division of Amazon, is the publisher of the North American and European-version of Lost Ark. They are not the owner of Lost Ark.
Smilegate RPG is the developer and owner of the Lost Ark title and its copyright. Amazon Games and Smilegate RPG have made a licensing deal that makes Amazon Games the publisher of Lost Ark for the western audience.
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Is Lost Ark an Amazon game?
Lost Ark is not an Amazon game. Lost Ark has been developed by Smilegate RPG and was released in South Korea in December of 2019.
Amazon Games is the publisher of the NA/EU version of Lost Ark and has collaborated with the Smilegate RPG team to translate and get the game ready for a western release, as described in their original press release.
The reason why you see Amazon Games inside Lost Ark and in most of the material surrounding the game, including the official Lost Ark website, is that Amazon Games is the exclusive publisher.
While Amazon Games have helped translate the game and get it ready for release in North America and Europe, Smilegate RPG is the developer of the core game.
Amazon Games’ job in being the exclusive publisher is to market the game and make sure the game reaches a wider audience.
Ji Won-gil, CEO of Smilegate RPG, said the following about Amazon Games’ strength in being the exclusive publisher of the western edition of Lost Ark.
Amazon Games is uniquely positioned as a publisher to reach entirely new audiences through its deep commitment to customers and substantial games publishing resources and channels, including Twitch, Prime Gaming, AWS, and more.
Ji Won-gil
We’ve clearly seen Amazon Games using their resources for the launch of Lost Ark in NA and EU.
The game’s already had Twitch drops and rewards for Prime Gaming subscribers like Ji Won-gil mentioned back when their collaboration was announced.
Does Amazon Games own Lost Ark?
No, Amazon Games do not own the game Lost Ark. What Amazon Games owns is the licensing right to being the exclusive publisher of Lost Ark in North America and Europe.
While Amazon Games have helped work on the game itself for purposes like translating dialogue, both written and spoken, they haven’t changed anything about the core game.
What the exact terms of the licensing deal between Amazon Games and Smilegate RPG are we have no way of knowing, but it’s likely that Amazon Games’ pay a certain percentage of revenue generated in the NA/EU version of Lost Ark to Smilegate RPG.
Licensing deals often work this way where the publisher takes care of getting the game out to customers and implements the changes made by the original developers in exchange for the right to keep a cut of the revenue.
That’s all you need to know about whether or not Lost Ark is an Amazon game.
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