King of Meat is a catastrophic failure by any metric. Glowmade, the UK-based studio behind the co-op party platformer, will lay off around a dozen employees in early 2026 according to Insider Gaming, just two months after the game launched in October 2025. The layoffs come after the studio’s leadership reportedly expected at least 100,000 concurrent players but instead peaked at a dismal 320 on Steam during a free weekend. Currently, the game sits at around 12 concurrent players, enough to fill exactly three matches.
The Numbers Tell a Brutal Story
The gap between expectations and reality is staggering. Leadership at either Glowmade or Amazon Games projected King of Meat would maintain at least 100,000 concurrent players. The actual peak on Steam was 320, achieved only during a promotional free weekend. After that brief spike, player counts dropped to double digits within days. The game’s recent 24-hour peak on Steam sits at just 23 players.
While King of Meat is also available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch, even generous estimates don’t save the numbers. If every console platform somehow had 100 times Steam’s player count, which seems extraordinarily unlikely, the game would still only reach about 2% of management’s minimum expectations. That’s not just missing targets. That’s a complete disconnect from reality about what this game could achieve.
Marketing Money That Went Nowhere
What makes this failure particularly painful is the massive marketing budget Amazon poured into King of Meat. The game received an announcement trailer at Gamescom 2024’s Opening Night Live show, hosted by Geoff Keighley. That premiere slot couldn’t have been cheap, and the trailer itself featured an animated version of Keighley, which industry observers estimate could have cost close to half a million dollars alone.
But Amazon didn’t stop there. They commissioned an entire MrBeast special to promote the game, complete with a custom-built set, more than a dozen content creators, and a $250,000 prize pool. The video essentially functioned as a mini King of Meat esports event and racked up 6.8 million views. Despite that massive reach and production value, it did almost nothing to convert viewers into players.
What Even Is King of Meat?
For those who missed it, King of Meat is a co-op party platformer for up to four players set in a survival game show. Players battle through user-generated dungeons filled with skeletons, trolls, and other monsters while trying to impress an audience with flashy Glory Moves and creative combat. The game includes extensive customization for both characters and dungeons, positioning itself as part Mario Maker, part Fall Guys, part hack-and-slash brawler.
Glowmade, which started with about 25 staffers when Amazon partnered with them in 2021, launched the game with more than 100 official dungeons and promised no pay-to-win mechanics. Everything could be earned through gameplay. The development team used the same dungeon creation tools they’d give players, theoretically allowing the community to build content as polished as the official levels. Cross-play across all platforms was supported from day one.
Why Did It Fail So Completely?
The simple answer is that King of Meat launched into an oversaturated market without a compelling reason to exist. The co-op party game space is brutally competitive, with established hits like Fall Guys, Among Us, and various Mario Party alternatives already commanding player attention. User-generated content games face an even tougher challenge, requiring not just players but active creators to sustain themselves.
PC Gamer senior editor Wes Fenlon predicted this outcome back in August 2024 when the game was announced, saying King of Meat “seems doomed to be a casualty of the live service era before it’s even out.” The warning signs were obvious to anyone paying attention. Live service games need critical mass to function. Without enough players, matchmaking breaks, user-generated content dries up, and the entire experience collapses regardless of quality.
Amazon’s Ongoing Gaming Struggles
King of Meat represents another embarrassing chapter in Amazon’s attempts to break into gaming. The company made major cuts to its gaming division in October 2025 as part of massive layoffs that also saw them shut down New World, an MMO that was still attracting decent player numbers. If a moderately successful MMO can’t survive Amazon’s scrutiny, a game pulling 12 concurrent players has no chance.
According to reports, Amazon’s gaming leadership has been obsessively focused on chasing trends and creating the next Fortnite, World of Warcraft, or Call of Duty rather than supporting unique visions that might actually resonate with audiences. That approach has consistently failed. Lost Ark found moderate success but is a Korean import, not an Amazon original. New World had potential but was mismanaged. Crucible was shut down before even leaving beta.
The Human Cost
Over the past week, multiple Glowmade developers posted on LinkedIn that they’re seeking new work. Insider Gaming reports that discussions about layoffs began earlier in December 2025, despite leadership previously telling staff the studio had runway to continue operating. The term being used is “voluntary redundancies,” which typically means offering severance packages to encourage employees to leave rather than forcing terminations.
Around a dozen people losing their jobs might seem small compared to the massive gaming industry layoffs of recent years, but for a studio that started with 25 employees, it represents nearly half the workforce. These are people who spent years developing King of Meat under Amazon’s backing, only to see management set impossible expectations and then cut staff when reality inevitably fell short.
FAQs
How many players did King of Meat actually get?
King of Meat peaked at 320 concurrent players on Steam during a free weekend. Current player counts sit around 12 concurrent players, enough to fill three matches. Console numbers are unknown but likely similarly low.
What was King of Meat expected to achieve?
Studio leadership reportedly expected King of Meat to maintain at least 100,000 concurrent players, making the actual performance about 0.32% of projections at its peak.
How much did Amazon spend marketing King of Meat?
Exact figures aren’t public, but the game received a Gamescom Opening Night Live trailer with animated Geoff Keighley (estimated at nearly $500,000), plus a full MrBeast special with a $250,000 prize pool and custom set construction.
Is King of Meat shutting down?
Not officially announced yet, but given Amazon shut down New World despite decent player counts, and King of Meat has essentially zero players, its future looks bleak. The upcoming layoffs suggest the studio is scaling back dramatically.
Who developed King of Meat?
Glowmade, a UK-based studio with approximately 25 employees, developed King of Meat with Amazon Game Studios publishing. Amazon partnered with Glowmade in 2021 to work on this \”exciting new IP\”.
When did King of Meat release?
King of Meat launched in October 2025 on PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch with full cross-play support.
What went wrong with King of Meat?
The game launched into an oversaturated co-op party game market without a compelling hook to attract players. Despite massive marketing, it failed to gain traction. Management also set wildly unrealistic player count expectations.
Why were expectations so high for King of Meat?
According to reports, Amazon’s gaming leadership is obsessed with creating the next Fortnite or WoW-level hit rather than supporting realistic, sustainable projects. This led to disconnected expectations about what a new IP could achieve.
Lessons Nobody Will Learn
King of Meat should serve as a case study in how not to launch a live service game. Setting expectations at 100,000 concurrent players for an unproven IP in a crowded genre shows fundamental misunderstanding of market realities. Throwing money at celebrity marketing without building organic community interest doesn’t work. Chasing trends instead of creating something genuinely interesting leads to mediocre products that fail to connect with audiences. Unfortunately, given Amazon’s track record, they’ll probably just try the exact same approach with their next gaming project and wonder why it fails too. The real tragedy is that a dozen talented developers will lose their jobs because executives refused to learn from the countless live service failures that came before King of Meat.