Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO Canceled: What Led to Its Untimely Demise?

It seems that Amazon’s project to develop a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game based on The Lord of the Rings has been scrapped, a casualty of the extensive job cuts impacting the tech giant’s gaming division.

Recently, Amazon announced its decision to cease the production of new content for its MMO, New World, as part of a broader reduction that saw 14,000 positions eliminated across the company. A report from Bloomberg highlighted that these reductions included deep cuts within Amazon’s gaming sector, particularly affecting the teams at its Irvine and San Diego locations. The report noted a specific pullback from MMO projects.

These developments raised alarms for the future of The Lord of the Rings MMO. A former developer from Amazon Games, who was among those laid off, suggested that the project is no longer moving forward.

In a LinkedIn post that has since been removed, the developer shared, “This morning I was part of the layoffs at Amazon Games, alongside my incredibly talented peers on New World and our developing Lord of the Rings game (which I believe you all would have loved),”.

The developer added, “It’s always difficult to watch such a dynamic team face these challenges — I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the most brilliant, inventive, and compassionate developers during my time here.”

They noted, “While leveraging an existing IP can be appealing, the real challenge lies in introducing a unique angle. We are still exploring what could set our game apart from others. It’s still too early to tell.”

In 2023, Embracer Group expressed its intent to significantly leverage The Lord of the Rings by transforming it into “one of the largest gaming franchises globally.” Embracer acquired the rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in August 2022, and soon after announced its plan to explore new gaming, film, and additional content opportunities based on these beloved narratives.

This is not the first instance of Amazon discontinuing a Lord of the Rings MMO. Back in 2021, the company terminated a previously announced Lord of the Rings MMORPG from 2019 due to a contractual disagreement with Tencent.