Players looking forward to stepping into a virtual Middle-Earth will be left disappointed as news has come out that Amazon, the technology giant that purchased the rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise and subsequently announced a TV series, has canceled an MMORPG project set in the world of that fantasy epic, although the two projects were unrelated. “You shall not pass development hell!”
In what was a collaboration announced two years ago between Amazon Game Studios, Middle-Earth Enterprises and Layou (who was later on acquired by Tencent), it was one of Amazon’s major investments into the Lord of the Rings franchise. This is a different case to the Lord of the Rings: Gollum game that was announced, but the news here will naturally cause concern for that game’s life too.
The signs coming out of Bloomberg stemmed from the point when Layou was bought out by Tencent in December. The resulting discussions between Amazon and Tencent and the inability to agree on contract negotiations were the factor behind the MMO’s cancellation.
A spokesperson for Amazon had said:
We have been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time. We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers,”
Very few details were available on the game, so it’s hard to miss something we didn’t know very much about. Nevertheless, it’s a concerning position for Amazon Game Studios to be in, with many of their first-party titles not seeing the light of day (Crucible and Breakaway being previous examples) and now this Lord of the Rings MMO. However, do you hold much hope for the Gollum game, especially with the financial difficulties of Daedalic Entertainment, the developers behind that game? Sad to see the Lord of the Rings MMO go? Leave us a comment down below.
