Amazon Cancels Planned ‘Lord of the Rings’ Game: Report

Amazon has unfortunately canceled the Lord of the Rings MMORPG that was announced way back in 2019.

According to the Bloomberg report, Amazon Games Studio was codeveloping the game alongside Leyou Technologies Holdings Ltd, a China-based video game company that was recently purchased by Tencent near the end of 2020. The reason behind the game’s cancellation was supposedly due to a dispute in contract negotiations between Amazon and Tencent.

Following Tencent’s acquisition of Leyou, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed that the company had “been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time.”

Quite frankly, this news sucks to hear. Even though news about the game’s development had been quiet since its original announcement in 2019, many people remained hopeful for a new chance to explore Middle-earth once again. I suppose the prospect of a Lord of the Rings MMORPG was too good to be true, but the news hurts nonetheless. “We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers,” a spokesperson at Amazon shared.

The game joins Breakaway and Crucible on the growing list of Amazon Games Studios canceled projects. The company still has its MMORPG New World in development, but that has been delayed to an August 2021 release.

Despite the sad news, fans who are eager to return to Middle-earth have Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings tv series and The Lord of the Rings: Gollum video game to look forward to in the coming future.