Amazon has canceled its free MMO Lord of the Rings, according to a Bloomberg report. Amazon unveiled the project for the first time in 2019, and the game was developed jointly by Amazon, Athlon Games and Leyou. This news comes just weeks after Amazon announced a new game from the creators of Rainbow Six Siege.
The Bloomberg report reveals that the cancellation of the game comes from a disagreement between Amazon and Tencent, the media company that acquired Leyou in December last year. An Amazon spokesman confirmed to Bloomberg that, given the recent acquisition of Tencent, “we have not been able to provide conditions to continue with this title at this time.” In the statement, the spokesman also acknowledged some disappointment for Bloomberg that the public could not play the game.
Amazon Game Studios reorganized last year, eliminating dozens of developers over the summer. More recently, the company canceled its free-to-play shooter, Crucible, a few months after the studio released it. New world, Amazon’s upcoming MMO, was recently delayed again earlier this year. With an MMO based on one of the largest IPs in the world, canceled at Amazon, it becomes hard for fans to get excited about any of Amazon Game Studios’ games.
The Lord of the Rings MMO was supposed to take place in the second era, just like the upcoming Amazon TV show. This would have given the player a chance to explore Middle-earth before Aragorn, Frodo or almost all of the Lord of the Rings’ beloved heroes appear. The Lord of the Rings MMO has been programmed for Windows PCs and consoles.