Amazon and Embracer partner for new Lord of the Rings MMO
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Amazon is taking a second stab at creating an MMO based on The Lord of the Rings, following the cancellation of a similar project two years ago.
The company announced today that it has reached an agreement with Embracer Group, which owns the series' rights holder Middle-Earth Enterprises, to develop and publish an online multiplayer game based on Tolkien's renowned fantasy work.
The game will be developed by Amazon Games Orange County – the studio behind the retail giant's previous MMO New World – and will be released for PC and consoles. There is no word of a release date at this time.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Amazon Games vice president Christoph Hartmann said the game is still in its very early stages, but confirmed it will feature stories and characters from both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
"We really just about finished the contract, literally got it signed this week," he said. "And obviously we talked about ideas, and shared concepts, but we're not really in development in any form. It's really at a conceptual stage. We're now going to start prototyping with a small team."
Amazon previously announced in 2019 that it was working with China-based games firm Leyou Technologies on a Lord of the Rings MMO, but this was cancelled in 2021 – due primarily to Tencent acquiring Leyou in 2020.
Hartmann told GamesIndustry.biz that Amazon and Tencent were in discussions over the future of the project, but it was unclear who retained the rights to the game. When Middle-Earth Enterprises later said that Tencent (and therefore Leyou) did not hold the licence, the project was canned.
Amazon approached Middle-Earth Enterprises about
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