Amazon reveals the reason why it canceled a Lord of the Rings MMO last year, stating that Tencent purchasing the planned developer led to serious complications. Amazon's Lord of the Rings MMO was announced in 2019 and, originally planned to be a free-to-play title, it would have allowed players to roam the lands of Middle-earth before any of the events featured in Tolkien's novels. From a lot of the early discussions surrounding the game, it seemed promising, but nothing concrete was ever revealed.
It was even expected that the Lord of the Rings MMO would release in 2022. But, unfortunately for many who were excited at the prospect of roaming around Middle-earth with their friends, back in April 2021 the game was canceled by Amazon. At the time, there wasn't a clear reason as to why the MMO was canceled, with the company stating only that there were some contract complications with developer Leyou Techologies. Now, some more details on those complications have been unearthed.
It seems that Tencent's purchasing of Leyou was the primary reason why the Lord of the Rings MMO faced cancellation. Speaking with Gamespot, Amazon Games President Christoph Hartmann discussed the difficulties of working with Tencent, which were amplified when Leyou was acquired by the conglomerate. Middle-earth Enterprises, the company owning the rights to The Lord of the Rings IP at the time, had a contract clause allowing it to terminate its deal with both Amazon and Leyou if either of its partners were acquired.
This is what really brought an end to the Lord of the Rings MMO, as it meant that the project was essentially brought to an end in its current form. It would have been possible for Amazon to continue to develop its Lord of the Rings game, but it would've likely taken on a different developer or would've required some very tough negotiations with Leyou, Tencent, and Middle-earth Enterprises. Now, of course, Embracer Group has purchased the rights to The Lord of the Rings and may produce some more games based on the IP in the future.
While Amazon's venture into producing Lord of the Rings games may not have worked out, it has recently launched its television series based on the works of J.R.R Tolkien, The Rings of Power. While there has been some controversy around the audience reception to The Rings of Power, it seems critics are largely enjoying the show so far, seeing it as a return to form for the epic fantasy that fans of The Lord of the Rings films will be familiar with.
Source: Gamespot