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All the way back in 2019, Amazon announced that it would be working on a The Lord of the Rings MMO alongside Leyou Technologies, which was a studio owned by Tencent. Well, after nearly two years since its announcement with virtually no information on the project having come about, Amazon has now canceled the project altogether.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, Amazon Game Studios has now officially scrapped its Lord of the Rings game. The title was originally planned to release on both PC and consoles and it was also going to be free-to-play. However, problems behind the scenes kept the game from advancing to the point that it has now met its demise. Amazon confirmed in a subsequent statement that the title is no longer in the works at this time. “We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers,” it read.
It seems as though the reason for the cancellation comes with Tencent’s involvement in the project. The Chinese mega-conglomerate acquired Leyou Technologies for $1.5 billion late in 2020, meaning that the company then became tied to this The Lord of the Rings game. However, this led to contract negotiations between both Amazon and Tencent which is where things started to fall apart. For one reason or another, a dispute between both parties transpired which led to the game then getting shut down as a whole.
As for what those who were working on this The Lord of the Rings project at Amazon will be doing next, they’re said to be moving on to other games that are in development at the company. Amazon’s most notable project that is currently in the pipeline happens to be that of another MMO which is called New World. The game is one that has been in the works for quite some time and is finally poised to release later on in 2021.
When it comes to The Lord of the Rings in the gaming space, there are other upcoming titles set in the world of Middle-earth to look forward to. Perhaps the most notable is The Lord of the Rings: Gollum which is a story-driven experience following the titular character. It’s set to release at an undetermined date in 2022.
So what do you think about this whole situation? Were you looking forward to this Lord of the Rings MMO? Let me know your thoughts either down in the comments or over on Twitter at @MooreMan12.