TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Few games encapsulate all that was wrong with Amazon's approach to making games more aptly than King of Meat.
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Amazon announced today that King of Meat, one of the more disastrous outcomes of its ill-fated effort to be a big-time PC game publisher, is officially throwing in the towel and going away for good in April.
"Despite the creativity and innovation Glowmade brought to King of Meat, the game has unfortunately not found the audience we hoped for," Amazon wrote on Steam. "As a result, we have made the difficult decision to conclude our investment in the game, and King of Meat's servers will on April 9, 2026. Players will be able to access and play all existing content until then, so we encourage you to enjoy your remaining time in the game with your fellow Contenders."
The one bright spot is that everyone who purchased the game—which is no longer available for purchase—will be given a full refund "in the coming weeks."
King of Meat's ugly end is notable because of Amazon's utterly inexplicable expectations for it. The game itself looks entirely unremarkable to my eye, but Amazon sprung for an announcement trailer at the Geoff Keighley-hosted Opening Night Live Showcase at Gamescom 2024, and in 2025 paid for an entire Mr. Beast special that offered a $250,000 prize.
It was later reported that "leadership" (whether at Glowmade or Amazon wasn't made clear) expected concurrent player counts of at least 100,000; what it got, on Steam, was a peak of 320. Just two months after King of Meat launched, Glowmade laid off an undisclosed number of employees.
Amazon previously announced, in October 2025, that it was shifting away from big-budget game development and MMOs to focus instead on Luna, its cloud gaming platform, and AI-powered crapola like Courtroom Chaos Featuring Snoop Dogg, which yes, I am going to inflict upon you yet again.
"We want to sincerely thank every player who supported King of Meat and the wonderful community that formed around it," Amazon wrote. "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."
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
There's not much more to say about it—you can play until April 9, you can't buy any more Stamps but you can use the ones you've got, refunds will be processed automatically—but if you have questions, the King of Meat shutdown FAQ will hopefully have ...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Amazon announced today that King of Meat, one of the more disastrous outcomes of its ill-fated effort to be a big-time PC game publisher, is officially throwing in the towel and going away for good in April.
"Despite the creativity and innovation Glowmade brought to King of Meat, the game has unfortunately not found the audience we hoped for," Amazon wrote on Steam. "As a result, we have made the difficult decision to conclude our investment in the game, and King of Meat's servers will on April 9, 2026. Players will be able to access and play all existing content until then, so we encourage you to enjoy your remaining time in the game with your fellow Contenders."
The one bright spot is that everyone who purchased the game—which is no longer available for purchase—will be given a full refund "in the coming weeks."
King of Meat's ugly end is notable because of Amazon's utterly inexplicable expectations for it. The game itself looks entirely unremarkable to my eye, but Amazon sprung for an announcement trailer at the Geoff Keighley-hosted Opening Night Live Showcase at Gamescom 2024, and in 2025 paid for an entire Mr. Beast special that offered a $250,000 prize.
It was later reported that "leadership" (whether at Glowmade or Amazon wasn't made clear) expected concurrent player counts of at least 100,000; what it got, on Steam, was a peak of 320. Just two months after King of Meat launched, Glowmade laid off an undisclosed number of employees.
Amazon previously announced, in October 2025, that it was shifting away from big-budget game development and MMOs to focus instead on Luna, its cloud gaming platform, and AI-powered crapola like Courtroom Chaos Featuring Snoop Dogg, which yes, I am going to inflict upon you yet again.
"We want to sincerely thank every player who supported King of Meat and the wonderful community that formed around it," Amazon wrote. "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."
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
There's not much more to say about it—you can play until April 9, you can't buy any more Stamps but you can use the ones you've got, refunds will be processed automatically—but if you have questions, the King of Meat shutdown FAQ will hopefully have ...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?