The Lord of the Rings MMO announced in 2019 has officially been canceled, Amazon confirmed today. Little had been shared regarding the MMO since its announcement, given it was in the early stages of development. Regardless, anticipation was high due to the Lord of the Rings' popularity and the success of The Lord of the Rings Online. Regardless, Amazon has now moved on from the project, citing contract issues with development partner Leyou Technologies.
Amazon's Lord of the Rings game was announced as a collaboration between Amazon Game Studios and Leyou, which is based in Hong Kong. Things changed when Leyou was acquired by Tencent for $1.5 billion in December 2020. An Amazon spokesperson has since confirmed to Bloomberg that the company was "unable to secure terms to proceed" following Tencent acquiring Leyou, so the Lord of the Rings MMO was subsequently canceled.
The Amazon representative also said the company loves Lord of the Rings, and that it is disappointed it won't be able to bring the game to customers. There are no apparent efforts to continue the development of the Lord of the Rings MMO. Further, it is being reported that developers on the project will be moved to other teams within Amazon, implying that cancelation is recent and Amazon is only transitioning beyond the project now.
Details about the cancelation of the Lord of the Rings MMO were first shared by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier. Schreier sourced the initial report to anonymous sources familiar with the Lord of the Rings project, but was later able to officially confirm the information with Amazon's representatives. No further detail was provided regarding the contract dispute or why Amazon chose to cancel the game rather than take on more of the development burden itself.
Amazon has had a challenging time building up its gaming division since the start of Amazon Game Studios eight years ago. This Lord of the Rings cancellation is the fifth project put to rest, with Nova, Intensity, Breakaway, and most recently Crucible preceding it. The only title it has released on major platforms remains The Grand Tour Game in 2019.
Amazon does have one project that should be completing development soon. New World, an MMO from Amazon's Orange County studio, is tentatively planned for release in August. Despite several delays, Amazon appears to be focused on letting New World complete development. As for what will come after that given its Lord of the Rings MMO is no longer on the way, only Amazon knows. However, the recent opening of a new "AAA studio" shows it has no plans to slow down yet.