It seems the path to Mordor was fraught with far too much danger for Amazon Game Studios, with the news that they have once again cancelled their major MMO project tied to The Lord of the Rings IP.
As first reported by Collider, the news was confirmed by former Amazon Games engineer Ashleigh Amrine, who shared a short statement on Twitter/X confirming that they were part of significant layoffs at the internal game development studio today.
"This morning I was part of the layoffs at Amazon Games, alongside my incredibly talented peers on New World and our fledgling Lord of the Rings game (y’all would have loved it)," Amrine confirmed.
If you've been following along with the game's development at all, then this likely won't come as a huge surprise to many.
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The Lord of the Rings MMO Has Always Been In Trouble
Announced all the way back in 2019, this marks the second time that the game has fallen by the wayside after Amazon decided it wasn't worth the trouble it was clearly causing them.
It was initially cancelled in 2021 after a supposed dispute with Tencent caused Amazon to back out, but they resurrected the game in 2023 and there was some hope that it might see the light of day once again. Hope was kindled, you could say.
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At that point, they promised players a huge open-world experience set in Tolkien's Middle-earth, and though details were relatively thin on the ground, it sounded like a really cool experience with all the official licensing we would expect.
Under development at Amazon Games Orange County, the project supposedly went through some major difficulties, including issues with the creative direction of the project, as well as around what was licensed via Embracer Group (which holds the rights to the IP in the video game world).
It was also designed to act as a companion to the Rings of Power TV series, though again, clashes over the best way for it to do that and the overall aesthetic design delayed things significantly.
With the amount of money needed to get this game out of the door, it's difficult to see how anyone can pick up the pieces and finish off what Amazon started.
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Fortunately, we still have The Lord of the Rings: Online, which is absolutely one of the best and most faithful MMOs out there, so give that a go if you're looking to adventure in the Shire and beyond.
Topics: The Lord Of The Rings, Amazon