Rumor: Amazon has cancelled development of a Lord of the Rings MMO

Amazon Games has reportedly canceled production on a massively multiplayer role-playing game based on The Lord of the Rings. The project, which was intended to be a large-scale MMO set in the J.R.R. Tolkien universe, was allegedly shelved following a recent wave of layoffs within the company.

This was revealed in a statement from former lead gameplay engineer Ashley Amrine, who stated that her team, previously working on New World and a new game based on the cult fantasy saga, had been laid off. The developer noted that the title was in the preliminary stages of development, but, according to her, already had great potential.

The game was announced in 2023 as part of a partnership between Amazon Games and Embracer Group. Production was handled by Amazon Games Orange County, the studio behind the MMO New World. Amazon has not yet officially commented on the project's fate.

The news of the possible cancellation coincided with the announcement that support for New World would be ending. The online fantasy game was released in 2021, briefly breaking online records, but soon lost popularity.