Amazon cancels The Lord of the Rings MMO after layoffs in its video game division

The ambitious online project set in Middle-earth will not see the light.

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The dream of a Lord of the Rings MMO developed by Amazon has officially vanished. After months of silence and a wave of layoffs that affected the company’s gaming division, everything points to the project being canceled. The information comes from Ashleigh Amrine, former senior gameplay engineer at the studio, who confirmed her departure from the team along with other colleagues who worked on this title and New World.

The cancellation comes just as Amazon Games has also confirmed the end of development for New World, its other major multiplayer project. Although the game’s servers will remain active, no new content will be released, marking the end of an era for the internal development team of the e-commerce giant.

The Lord of the Rings MMO will not see the light of day

The MMO set in Tolkien’s work had been in development for years and was part of the agreement between Amazon and Embracer Group to boost the Lord of the Rings brand in the video game world. But now, the complex situation of the franchise’s exploitation rights has made it difficult to move forward without the consensus of all parties involved.

The goal was to turn the saga into one of the most prominent properties in the sector, with big-budget games and global presence. The result has been very different: minor releases, such as Lord of the Rings: Gollum, and canceled projects that have left fans without the major online title that many were expecting. For now, there are no indications that Amazon or Embracer will revive the idea in the near future.