Amazon Confirms It's Working on a 'Compelling' New The Lord of the Rings Video Game, but Its MMO Is Dead

We tin safely accidental that Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings MMO is dead, though the mega corp has insisted it’s inactive moving connected a caller Middle-earth video game.

Confirmation comes from Eurogamer, which reported connected the cancelation of the crippled arsenic portion of an probe into Amazon’s propulsion towards generative AI and consequent wide layoffs crossed its improvement teams.

Amazon Games brag Jeff Grattis, told Eurogamer: “Our originative squad continues to research a compelling caller crippled acquisition that does justness to Tolkien's world; we are moving intimately with Middle-earth and stay excited astir the IP.”

The Lord of the Rings MMO was thought dormant backmost successful October, erstwhile Amazon confirmed it was walking distant from making caller contented for its MMO, New World, amid immense layoffs affecting 14,000 roles astatine the company. According to a study by Bloomberg, these layoffs included “significant” cuts to Amazon’s video crippled operation, which reduced improvement enactment chiefly successful its Irvine and San Diego offices.

Bloomberg said Amazon was cutting backmost particularly connected MMOs, sparking interest for The Lord of the Rings MMO. At the time, a erstwhile Amazon Games developer deed by the cuts suggested The Lord of the Rings MMO was dead.

“This greeting I was portion of the layoffs astatine Amazon Games, alongside my incredibly talented peers connected New World and our fledgling Lord of the Rings crippled (y'all would person loved it),” the developer said successful a now-deleted station connected LinkedIn.

“It’s ever pugnacious to spot specified a beardown squad spell done thing similar this — I’ve been fortunate to enactment with immoderate of the astir skilled, creative, and benignant developers I’ve ever met here.”

Although The Lord of the Rings MMO was announced successful 2023, successful August past year, past Amazon Games brag Christoph Hartmann told IGN it was inactive aboriginal days. "We're inactive trying to find the hook, find that thought of what it is due to the fact that we don't conscionable privation to spell and bash the aforesaid happening over," Hartmann said astatine the time.

"While it's tempting sometimes with an existing IP, that's not the constituent of doing it. You've got to find a caller twist, and we're still, I think, successful that play wherever we truly privation to find retired what could beryllium the hook, what could beryllium the happening which is antithetic to each the different games retired there. So it's a small spot early.”

In 2023, Lord of the Rings rights proprietor Embracer said it needed to beryllium "exploiting Lord of the Rings successful a precise important fashion" by turning it into “one of the biggest gaming franchises successful the world.” Embracer bought the rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit successful August 2022 and announced plans to research opportunities to make caller games, movies, and much based connected the celebrated intelligence spot soon after.

It’s worthy digging into Amazon’s connection a small deeper here. Mention of “a compelling caller crippled acquisition that does justness to Tolkien's world” suggests a caller The Lord of the Rings crippled is successful the works. But what could it be? Perhaps it’s the rumored The Lord of the Rings RPG from Kingdom Come: Deliverance developer Warhorse, which, it’s worthy pointing out, is owned by Embracer.

This isn’t the archetypal clip Amazon has canceled a Lord of the Rings MMO. In 2021, it halted a Lord of the Rings MMORPG that was archetypal announced successful 2019 amid a declaration quality with Tencent.

Wesley is Director, News astatine IGN. Find him connected Twitter astatine @wyp100. You tin scope Wesley astatine [email protected] oregon confidentially astatine [email protected].