As reported by Bloomberg news earlier today, it looks like the Lord of the Rings MMO that Amazon has been working on for the last several years has come to impasse. According the gaming insiders, Amazon and China-based Leyou Technologies Holdings Ltd, who recently acquired Tencent Holdings were unable to come to an agreement regarding the popular franchise.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that after Tencent’s acquisition of Leyou, “we have been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time.”
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that after Tencent’s acquisition of Leyou, “we have been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time.”
The Amazon team working on the game will be moved to other projects. “We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers,” the spokesperson for the Seattle-based company said in a statement.
This is certainly unexpected news, but not surprising given Amazon’s growing pains with releasing games under their own gaming label. In fact, aside from a handful of mobile/apps, Amazon has only released two games for any major platform; Dragon’s Lair for the Switch and Crucible for PC.
Still, a new LOTR MMO would have been super cool to play considering the how popular the original LOTR Online is today. I’m hopeful that Amazon and Leyou will come to an agreement and release the game in the near future because they have a goldmine of a franchise in their proverbial hands.
Healthcare Professional, Gamer, and Writer all rolled up in one. He once opened up an old Atari 2600 to see if it had a heart … and it did. Hence, the lifelong love affair with gaming.