Amazon hooked into a new “Lord of the Rings” MMO in 2019. Looking at the history of Amazon Games, we already have to account for two casualties. Is this still going to happen with the new MMO?
What we know about the MMO: Already in July 2019, we reported from MeinMMO about the new “Lord of the Rings” MMO. Initially, it was developed solely by the Chinese company Leyou Technologies before Amazon joined in.
As is typical for the Chinese market, we should expect a Free2Play MMO here, and not just for PC, but also for consoles. The game is supposed to take place before the famous films and books, thus avoiding conflicts with the already existing MMORPG Lord of the Rings Online.
The new MMO is at least being developed by Amazon itself, by the studio that is currently also working on New World. And slowly, we are starting to have some doubts about whether the “Lord of the Rings” MMO will materialize anytime soon. After all, Breakaway and Crucible have already failed.
Amazon Game Studios with a difficult start
The status of the new MMO: Already in April 2020, attention was drawn to job postings that Amazon had listed for its new MMO set in the Lord of the Rings universe.
From these, everything indicated that the MMO is supposed to be a AAA title. However, it is the case that the job postings are still active and are updated frequently.
In the search for a Narrative Designer (via Amazon), for example, a writer is sought who will take care of the story of the world and individual characters.
The development seems to still be in its early stages and we are also missing a trailer or gameplay footage so far. Should we obtain new information, we will, of course, keep you updated.
These were Amazon’s two casualties: Especially in view of other Amazon games, the release of the new MMOs could take longer – or might never happen.
Amazon’s first game was called Breakaway and was seen as a mix of the well-known games Overwatch and Rocket League. While everyone was fighting, one had to try to get the ball into the opponent’s goal.
The project was initially put on hold in the fall of 2017 for revisions. However, the developers ultimately declared Breakaway dead in 2018.
Otherwise, there is also Crucible. The hero shooter was reverted to beta after a catastrophic initial phase and ultimately the developers also gave up on it. Another blow for Amazon in terms of gaming.
New World as Amazon’s focal point
Amazon emphasized that the employees from Crucible would now focus on New World. This is another MMO that Amazon is working on. It takes place in a fictional setting of the 17th century and was supposed to be released in August 2020.
Unfortunately, New World has quite a few problems. The release has been postponed several times and is now pushed to 2021. A specific date has not yet been publicly confirmed.
Doubts arise regarding how far along the “Lord of the Rings” MMO is in development. Especially in light of the job postings. Amazon seems to want to fully concentrate on New World, so the other MMO will likely have to take a back seat.
But there is still hope for the “Lord of the Rings” MMO, after all, Amazon is not involved alone. Moreover, it has not been declared dead like Breakaway or Crucible. However, a lot of time will likely pass before it is finally released.
