Amazon has reportedly abandoned its second undertaking at crafting a Lord of Rings Massive Multiplayer Online game (MMO), in the wake of a fresh wave of layoffs at Amazon Games. This information became public via the professional networking platform LinkedIn, where former senior gameplay engineer Ashleigh Amrine revealed that herself, along with numerous others who were part of the project, had been dismissed.
This update surfaces briefly after Amazon called off the development of New World, its colonial fantasy MMO, although servers are slated to remain functioning till 2026. “Witnessing such a robust team encounter a situation like this is always saddening,” Amrine candidly expressed in her post. “During my tenure here, I had the privilege of collaborating with some of the most gifted, imaginative, and amiable developers that I’ve ever encountered.”
The Lord of the Rings MMO, spearheaded by Amazon was initially announced in 2023, post Amazon entering into a partnership with Embracer Group, who currently hold the rights to Middle-Earth. The forthcoming venture was slated to be a ‘persistent open-world adventure’ encompassing events from The Hobbit all the way through The Lord of the Rings. However, there was a dearth of information concerning the game and it now appears that the project has been discontinued before it could reach the public. This follows Amazon’s initial venture in 2019, which fell through in 2021 amid a contractual disagreement when its collaborator, Leyou, was purchased by Tencent.
In August of the previous year, Christoph Hartmann, VP of Amazon Games spoke about the difficulties encountered during the project. According to Hartmann, one of the key challenges was discovering the right ‘hook’ that would distinguish a Lord of the Rings MMO. He underscored that the team was focused on creating something unique rather than just replicating what’s already in the market. An instance of this is the enduring ‘The Lord of the Rings Online’ which debuted in 2007 and continues to receive updates. Hartmann conceded that MMOs are inherently ‘complex’ to develop owing to their high cost and the necessity for regular new content to retain player interest– this in itself is a considerable gamble even for a corporate giant like Amazon.
At the same time, Hartmann pointed out that Amazon Games will transition from being an exclusive MMO publisher and will shift its focus towards other segments such as action RPGs. In other Amazon-related news, The Rings of Power TV series proceeds independently, with its upcoming season delving into Sauron’s ascension–a testament that Amazon’s ambition in Middle-earth remains intact, albeit not in the form of an MMO.
Leave a Reply