Amazon’s struggling video game business has suffered yet another setback. In 2019, the company announced that a Lord of the Rings MMO was in development for consoles and PC with the help of Leyou Technologies Holdings Ltd. Last December, Leyou was purchased by Tencent, following which a dispute arose between Amazon and the conglomerate, leading to the game’s cancellation.
This news was first revealed by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier. Amazon has officially confirmed that its Lord of the Rings is no more. Tencent did not offer a comment.
“We have been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time,” said an Amazon spokesperson. “We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers.”
Bloomberg’s report didn’t reveal what caused the rift. According to Schreier, the “resulting contract negotiations led to a dispute between Amazon and Tencent that eventually caused the game’s cancellation, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the issue.”
Amazon Game Studios launched in 2014 but has yet to successfully release a game. Several of its projects have been cancelled or delayed.
“Tolkien’s Middle-earth is one of the richest fictional worlds in history, and it gives our team of experienced MMO developers — from the same studio developing New World — tremendous opportunity to play and create,” Amazon said back in 2019.
Lord of the Rings MMO was set to be a free-to-play title. Specific platforms were never announced.
[Source: Bloomberg]
