Amazon scraps 'Lord of the Rings' MMO game

Amazon's video game division will no longer proceed with its plan to create an online role-playing game based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

According to Bloomberg, the cancelled free-to-play game for PC and console platforms was in development at Amazon Game Studios alongside China-based Leyou Technologies Holdings Ltd, which was purchased by Tencent Holdings Ltd. for $1.5 billion in December 2020.

However, the contract negotiations reportedly led to a dispute between Amazon and Tencent that eventually resulted to the cancellation of the game.

An Amazon spokesperson said that following Tencent’s acquisition of Leyou, the company was "unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time."

“We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

The team working on the game will reportedly be transferred to other projects.

The scrapped online game joins previously cancelled Amazon Game Studios projects such as team-based brawler Breakaway and third-person shooter Crucible. Its upcoming New World MMO game, which has been hit with numerous delays, is slated to be released this August.

The news of the game's cancellation came on the heels of Amazon's announcement that it would shell out a whopping $465 million for the production of the first season of the Lord of the Rings series. 

(Images from IMDB)