Amazon Games announce a second attempt at The Lord Of The Rings MMO
"Featuring the beloved stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings"
Amazon Games are taking another stab at creating an MMO based on The Lord Of The Rings world, this time partnering with the Embracer Group who recently bought the entirety of Middle-Earth - the IP, not the realms, though I wouldn't put it past them. The untitled project is currently in early development for both PC and consoles with Orange County - the folks behind MMO New World - leading the charge.
Amazon Games previously canned a different LOTR MMO, also in development at the New World team, reportedly because of a contractual dispute with Tencent. This new game is completely separate and won’t be using any pre-developed materials from the cancelled one. It should also be noted that Amazon’s MMO has nothing to do with the ongoing The Lord Of The Rings Online which is still alive and healthy. They even added the black lands of Mordor a couple years back.
Apart from that details are pretty scarce, but the publisher have channelled their inner Gandalf and shed some light on the game. Middle-Earth will be a persistent open world “featuring the beloved stories of The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings literary trilogy.” Literary, you say? A cheeky nod to Fatty the Hobbit’s inevitable appearance, I think.
“We’re committed to bringing players high-quality games,” said Amazon Games’ vice president Christoph Hartmann, “whether through original IPs or long-beloved ones like The Lord Of The Rings.” The megacorps’ video game division has somewhat turned things around since their last trek to Middle-Earth. Both New World and the worldwide release of Lost Ark have been considerable successes, following bumpy launches. The company also have several other projects in the pipeline, including the next Tomb Raider adventure that’s also a joint effort with Embracer.
Hopefully lightning doesn’t strike twice, and this LOTR MMO makes it out of the gates. Middle-Earth can be quite cosy when it’s not riddled with orcs, goblins, super elephants.
Oh, and for those itching for a solo ringcentric adventure: The Lord Of Rings: Gollum comes out on May 25th, by the way.