The Amazon Games studio behind ‘New World’ levels up its MMO ambitions with ‘The Lord of the Rings’ project

amazongames.com:

In close collaboration with Embracer Group and Middle-earth Enterprises, the Amazon Games Orange County studio will develop a new massively multiplayer online (MMO) game based on the iconic The Lord of the Rings property. Their game will be set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, featuring the stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings literary trilogy.

In a first for Amazon Games, one of its internal studios will lead development for a game based on external IP, and the team is determined to deliver an experience that is incredibly faithful to the rich fantasy lore established by Tolkien’s landmark novels. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that the team is filled with talented developers who share a strong affinity for The Lord of The Rings .

The prospect of building a vast, connected digital world for the preeminent fantasy franchise on the planet is a tremendously exciting one for Rich Lawrence, director of the Amazon Games Orange County studio, and certainly a responsibility that he and his team do not take lightly.

“The number-one thing about a property like this is that you have to be respectful and authentic,” Rich said. “When somebody is a fan of The Lord of the Rings and sits down and plays this game for the first time, they have to say, ‘This was crafted by a bunch of people who lived in this world just like I do in my head. They get it.’

“We understand this world. The people working on this team love these works,” he continued. “We’re right there with you; we’re fans, and we want to make a game that we, as fans, will enjoy.”

It also doesn’t hurt that this team is the same studio that delivered the first major success from Amazon Games, New World : An open-world, massively multiplayer online role-playing game