Amazon has officially announced that it will be partnering with the Embracer Group for a brand-new The Lord of the Rings MMO. It is said to be an open-world MMO that will let players explore Middle-Earth and will be developed by the studio behind New World. Not much else is known about the project, but some The Lord of the Rings fans are skeptical about this new venture.
This new The Lord of the Rings MMO will be the second Middle-earth MMO after The Lord of the Rings Online in 2007, and will replace the canceled The Lord of the Rings MMO that Amazon was developing. While it will supposedly be disconnected from the controversial The Rings of Power, some Tolkien fans are worried about the quality of this project. Amazon may have put itself in an impossible situation, but there is also a chance this MMO surprises everyone when it launches.
Tolkien Fans Will Be Amazon's Greatest Obstacle
It will be a while before this new The Lord of the Rings MMO releases since it is still in the early stages of production. All that Amazon has shared is a logo and that it will launch on PC and consoles. Amazon Games Orange County studio will be taking the reins after releasing the MMO New World, and it will highlight stories from across J. R. R. Tolkien's world. The concept could be pretty exciting, but the execution might not be.
Amazon made a name for itself with Tolkien fans when it released season one of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power in 2022. It was the most expensive TV show ever produced and brought viewers to Middle-earth's Second Age. While it was met with mostly positive reviews, it paled in comparison to J.R.R. Tolkien's work and Peter Jackson's trilogy. It was a decent adventure through Middle-earth, but it did not enthrall audiences as much as Amazon had hoped, and allegedly only 45 percent of The Rings of Power viewers finished the show. What was supposed to be this fantastic exploration of Middle-earth ended up being pretty disappointing for Tolkien fans.
The Lord of the Rings' new MMO is also coming fresh off the heels of New World's disappointment. New World was going to be this gigantic MMO that was going to take on the genre's titans, but it ended up receiving mixed reviews at launch. While it was immensely popular at first, players quickly learned that there was not much to the game. It was also filled with problems, and the studio did not seem ready to handle an endeavor like this. Amazon has now handed Amazon Games Orange County The Lord of the Rings' IP, which will likely be an even larger endeavor.
This new The Lord of the Rings MMO will be entering a crowded market that already has The Lord of the Rings Online in it. Since 2007, fans have been able to explore Middle-earth during the Third Age and interact with all their favorite characters. It sounds like what Amazon wants to do with its MMO, but it has already been done before. While this new game will have nicer graphics, it needs to try something new otherwise players will have little reason to jump over.
Amazon has scorned many Tolkien fans with The Rings of Power, the developers already fumbled one MMO, and there is already another The Lord of the Rings MMO on the market. It seems like Amazon has bitten off a bit more than it can chew with this new title, and some Tolkien fans may have already delivered their verdict on this upcoming title. While it may be a bit too early to critique the game, it will be interesting to see how Amazon can get around the many obstacles in its path.
Amazon's The Lord of the Rings MMO is currently in development.