Amazon Games Explained Why The Lord of the Rings MMO Got Canceled

In 2019, Amazon Games revealed that it partnered with the Chinese developer Leyou Technologies as well as Middle-earth Enterprises to develop a new free-to-play MMO based on the Lord of the Rings universe. The game was supposed to be set in the Second Age, the same time period where Amazon's recently released The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power show is set.

However, last year, it became known that the project eventually got canceled. At the time, Amazon expressed its regret that audiences wouldn't be able to play the game and noted that the company wasn't able to "secure terms to proceed with this title at this time."

And now, speaking to GameSpot, Amazon Games president Christoph Hartmann shared some more details on the reasons for the cancellation of the project. According to Hartmann, the problems with the title started when Leyou was acquired by the Chinese giant Tencent. 

"We had a deal with a Hong Kong-based company, Leyou; I think it would have been great to work with them. But they later got sold to Tencent and it just got very complicated," he said.

Hartmann explained that Middle-earth Enterprises, which owns the IPs for The Lord of the Rings, had a clause in the contract that it could terminate its rights deal in case one of its partners got acquired, so the company used this option when Leyou was sold to Tencent.

Amazon Games' president noted that it still would have been possible to continue work on the MMO even in that case, for instance, Amazon could have partnered with Tencent, however, after some negotiations, Amazon chose to cease the development as it found that Amazon and Tencent are "too big as companies to really turn into partners doing a property together."

Hartmann also noted that though, unfortunately, people won't be able to play The Lord of the Rings MMO, Amazon still has a couple of successful MMOs up in its sleeve, including New World and Lost Ark. 

"I want to keep on investing in that. I know, it's not going to be Lord of the Rings, but we have our own fantasy; why not keep building on that," Hartmann said.

You can find the full interview with Christoph Hartmann here. Also, don't forget to join our Reddit page and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.