It sounded like a dream project for many fans of Middle-earth: a large-scale The Lord of the Rings -MMO, developed by Amazon Games, which tells the stories of The Hobbit to Lord of the Rings-trilogy was supposed to connect. But now it seems clear that this adventure will never begin.
A former employee of Amazon Games writes on LinkedInHe was dismissed as part of the latest wave of layoffs, along with colleagues who were also dismissed. New World and the still young Lord of the Rings-project. The casual comment “y'all would have loved it“This quickly set off alarm bells in the community: The game had probably been discontinued before it could even really get going.
Amazon is withdrawing from the MMO business
It's no secret that Amazon Games is currently going through a difficult time. Over 14.000 jobs are expected to be cut company-wide this week. have been cancelled, a significant portion of which is with the development teams of New World and the Tolkien MMO, which is still in the concept phase.
Just a few days ago, Amazon publicly stated that it wanted to distance itself from large online projects such as MMOs in the future. New WorldThe game, which launched in 2021 as a beacon of hope, was never able to retain its player base long-term. The failure of this title likely called many internal strategies into question, and apparently also the fate of the Lord of the Rings-game sealed.
The project seemed quite ambitious: a “persistent open-world adventure“, which was intended to link the most important events of the Middle-earth saga, in collaboration with Embracer, the current rights holder of the brand. For many players, this was a chance to experience Tolkien's world in a new technical quality.”
Who will take over Middle-earth?
With the end of the The Lord of the Rings The future of digital excursions to Middle-earth remains uncertain for MMOs. While Weta Workshop continues to work on a smaller project, a true online epic seems a long way off.
Whether other studios will seize the opportunity – or whether the license is once again shelved – remains to be seen. For fans, it's certainly bitter news. Once again, an attempt to combine Tolkien's world with modern online technology has failed.
Ultimately, the question remains: Will there ever be an MMO that does justice to the spirit of Middle-earth – or is this chapter finally closed?
