Amazon Game Studios canceled its action game Project Trident after a series of redesigns driven by a company-wide AI mandate and major layoffs in late 2025 [1, 2, 3]. Originally envisioned as a Shadow of the Colossus-style game featuring large battles with Jotuns and flying mounts, the project was forced to pivot multiple times to incorporate generative AI elements starting mid-2024 [2, 3].
The AI requirement pushed the team to transform Project Trident into a Helldivers-style roguelite emphasizing AI interactions, a significant shift from the original concept [2, 3]. Missing initial deadlines, the team then pivoted again to producing a single-player game demo centered on AI-driven NPC interactions, which neared completion by early 2026 [2, 3]. Despite internal enthusiasm for the original game idea, repeated changes under AI pressure contributed to the project’s cancellation [1, 2, 3].
In October 2025, Amazon laid off hundreds of developers working on Project Trident amid a company-wide reduction affecting roughly 14,000 employees, including the gaming division [1, 2, 3]. Steve Boom, head of Amazon Games, said the layoffs forced the studio to halt significant first-party AAA MMO development efforts [3]. Other projects, such as the New World MMO, were also impacted by closures and layoffs [1, 3].
Steve Boom said, “We have made the difficult decision to halt a significant amount of our first-party AAA game development work — specifically around MMOs — within Amazon Game Studios.” [3]
The New World MMO is scheduled to shut down in January 2027 [1, 3]. Project Trident’s cancellation marks a major shift for Amazon’s gaming ambitions after the AI-driven redesigns and workforce reductions.
