Amazon Cut Project Trident Team After 2024 AI Pivot and 14,000 Late-2025 Layoffs

6 articles · Updated · PC Gamer · May 14

Eurogamer reported Amazon laid off the Project Trident team after the game was repeatedly reworked under a mid-2024 AI mandate and neared a demo planned for the first half of 2026.
Project Trident reportedly began as a Shadow of the Colossus-style action game, then was forced into two AI-heavy concepts — first a Helldivers-like roguelite, later a single-player game using LLMs for abilities and dialogue.
Sources said the first AI pivot came just before the original pitch, with an implied warning the project would likely be shut down unless AI was built in; one version was given only 2 years.
Amazon gaming head Jeff Gattis said AI was not behind the cuts, describing them instead as part of a strategic refocus on areas where Amazon can deliver the most value to players.
The layoffs fit a broader retreat already reported at Amazon Games, which canceled Project Trident and a Lord of the Rings MMO during wider late-2025 cuts affecting 14,000 employees.

Why did Amazon cancel its promising AI-driven game after forcing developers to pivot and adopt the new technology?

Is Amazon’s public AI push for gaming a facade, given the cuts to its own AI-focused studios and projects?