MMORPG based on The Lord of the Rings
Setting: Fantasy | Developer / Publisher: Leyou Technologies, Amazon Games, Athlon Games | Platform: PC, Consoles | Cancelled: April 2021
Before Amazon Games and Embracer teamed up for a new MMORPG based on The Lord of the Rings, there was already a comparable project for the popular Middle-earth universe, in which Amazon was involved.
Still alive and kicking – The Lord of the Rings Online:
Initially, it was the Chinese company Leyou Technologies and Athlon Games that wanted to develop a new Free2Play MMORPG for The Lord of the Rings in 2018 together with rights holder Middle-earth Enterprises. The New World developers joined the project only a year later to assist with their experience and server technology.
With Amazon Games joining in, the focus also changed: Initially, they wanted to concentrate on the years before the movies and books, but now they intended to use J.R.R. Tolkien’s novel trilogy as a basis. However, when the mega-corporation Tencent later acquired Leyou Technologies, a break occurred.
The reason: Due to the new owner, all contracts between Amazon Games and Tencent had to be renegotiated unexpectedly. However, the parties involved were unable to come to a common denominator. In April 2021, news circulated that the MMORPG was canceled while still in development.
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