Amazon’s massive ‘Lord Of The Rings’ game has reportedly been cancelled

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Amazon’s massive ‘Lord Of The Rings’ game has reportedly been cancelled

Amazon’s ambitious multiplayer The Lord Of The Rings game has reportedly been cancelled following a wave of job cuts throughout the company.

Earlier this week, it was reported (via Bloomberg) that Amazon was set to make “significant role reductions” at Amazon Game Studios and work on a “significant amount” of their first-party AAA game development work would be halted “specifically around MMOs”.

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At the same time, it was confirmed that 2022’s huge multiplayer New World would stop being updated but servers would stay online until the end of 2026. It wasn’t confirmed if the game would be able to play beyond that though. Fans were also concerned about the multiplayer Lord Of The Rings game that Amazon had been working on since 2024.

In a now deleted post on Linkedin, senior gameplay engineer Ashleigh Amrine confirmed she was part of the layoffs at Amazon Game Studios, her whole team had lost their jobs and suggested that the “fledgling” Lord Of The Rings game will now never be finished. “Y’all would have loved it,” she wrote.

Amazon previously scrapped one free-to-play Lord Of The Rings project in 2021 after co-developer Leyou was acquired by Tencent. Last year, Amazon announced a new game was being developed in close collaboration with Embracer Group and Middle-Earth Enterprises. “We were so excited to get that first opportunity to build an MMO based on one of the world’s most beloved fantasy properties, so it broke our hearts when that initial deal ultimately fell through,” Christoph Hartmann, vice president of Amazon Games, said at the time. “We were so endeared to Tolkien’s world and the project that we never gave up on the possibility of one day bringing it back to the table.”

“We understand this world. The people working on this team love these works,” he continued. “We’re right there with you; we’re fans, and we want to make a game that we, as fans, will enjoy.” A few months later, Hartmann said the project was still in the “early stages” of development and Amazon was still “trying to find the hook” for what would make their Lord Of The Rings multiplayer game unique.

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Last month, it was reported Embracer were leading development on their own Lord Of The Rings game and were hoping the game would “rival” Hogwarts Legacy. However that project still hasn’t been officially announced.

In other news, the US Government has confirmed it will keep using popular film and video game memes to promote ICE, despite backlash from fans.

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