‘Lord Of The Rings’ MMO is still in “early” stages of development
It doesn’t look like Amazon Games’ Lord Of The Rings game will be released any time soon, but it is still in the works.
Amazon Games have been trying to get a Lord Of The Rings MMO made for a number of years now. One free-to-play project was scrapped in 2021 after co-developer Leyou was acquired by Tencent. Earlier this year though, it was confirmed a new game was being developed in close collaboration with Embracer Group and Middle-earth Enterprises by the team behind New World.
“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. So, you can imagine our absolute delight when our friends at Embracer Group and Middle-earth Enterprises formally gave us the green light to get to work.”
“We’re honoured and flattered by their faith in us,” he added. “And we’re determined to build the best possible The Lord Of The Rings MMO and something that the franchise’s millions of fans all over the world will truly love.”
In June, Amazon Games boss Christoph Hartmann told Variety that news on the game was “not too far away” but in a new interview with IGN, he revealed the project is still in the “early” days of development.
“It’s a big IP, it’s a big game. I know you’re going to fish [into] every little word [I say] and try to read into it, but honestly, it’s too early to read into every little word. We’re still trying to find the hook, find that idea of what it is because we don’t just want to go and do the same thing over. While it’s tempting sometimes with an existing IP, that’s not the point of doing it,” he explained.
“You’ve got to find a fresh twist, and we’re still in that period where we really want to find out what could be the hook, what could be the thing which is different to all the other games out there,” he added.
It comes as Amazon’s Prime Video is gearing up to release the second season of The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power.
In other news, it’s been reported that Crash Bandicoot 5 would have been a crossover with the Spyro The Dragon franchise, before it was cancelled by Activision.
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Ali Shutler
NME
