Amazon has cancelled an in-development Lord of the Rings MMO it first announced in 2019, Bloomberg reported today.
The MMO was being developed by Amazon and Chinese company Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited, which was purchased by Tencent in December 2020. Sources told Bloomberg contract disputes between Amazon and Tencent have caused the game to be cancelled.
A statement given to Bloomberg by Amazon reads that the company has “been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time” and that it is “disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers.”
Bloomberg writes that “the Amazon team working on the game will be moved to other projects.”
The hits keep on coming for Amazon Game Studios. Multiple reports have detailed internal struggles at the company’s gaming arm. Its team-based shooter Crucible was released in May 2020, went back into closed beta in June, and then was ultimately cancelled in October. Another MMO, New World, has been delayed three times and is now set to come out in August. In March, Amazon announced a new studio led by ex-Rainbow Six Siege developers, a seeming sign that Amazon intends to keep shooting for the game development stars despite the mounting evidence that this might be a bad idea.
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If you still need a Lord of the Rings game to look forward to, Daedalic Entertainment’s The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is aiming for a 2022 release.