Amazon Game Studios has announced the closure of servers for its live-service co-op game King of Meat on April 9, 2026. The game, which launched in October 2025, failed to attract the expected player base despite heavy promotion. All purchasers will receive full refunds in the coming weeks.
King of Meat, an online-only live-service co-op game developed by Glowmade and published by Amazon Game Studios, launched on October 31, 2025, for $30. In the lead-up to release, it featured a promotional animated trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live in August 2024 and a video from content creator MrBeast showcasing a tournament with other creators. The studio aimed for around 100,000 concurrent players on Steam at launch, but SteamDB data shows it never exceeded 400, and total players across consoles and PC never reached 1,000. Layoffs were planned at Glowmade in late December 2025.
On February 23, 2026, Amazon posted an update titled “The Future of King of Meat,” stating: “Despite the creativity and innovation Glowmade brought to King of Meat, the game has unfortunately not found the audience we hoped for.” The post announced the decision to end investment in the game, with servers shutting down on April 9, 2026. Players can continue accessing all existing content until that date.
Amazon confirmed full refunds for all who purchased the game will be issued in the coming weeks. The company expressed gratitude, saying: “We want to sincerely thank every player who supported King of Meat and the wonderful community that formed around it. Your enthusiasm, imagination, and feedback have meant the world to us and to the team at Glowmade. We’re grateful for Glowmade’s partnership and passion throughout this journey and wish them continued success in the future.”
This shutdown follows a pattern in the industry, where many live-service games have closed shortly after launch. Examples include Concord in 2024, which ended in less than two weeks, and Amazon's own New World and Crucible. Publishers continue investing in such titles despite frequent failures, with rare successes like Helldivers 2 standing out.
