Amazon Games has shelved its Lord of the Rings MMO, marking another casualty in the company's brutal retreat from online gaming. The decision came as part of sweeping layoffs that decimated the developer's studios, particularly in Southern California.
The studio confirmed the project's death through an investigation into Amazon's shift toward generative AI and its impact on game development teams. Jeff Grattis, boss of Amazon Games, acknowledged the pivot while hinting at something different on the horizon: "Our creative team continues to explore a compelling new game experience that does justice to Tolkien's world; we are working closely with Middle-earth and remain excited about the IP."
The MMO's demise became apparent in October when Amazon announced it was halting all new content development for New World, its flagship MMO title. That same month, the company eliminated 14,000 jobs across the corporation, with "significant" cuts directed at its gaming operation, primarily affecting offices in Irvine and San Diego. The video game division was hit especially hard with sharp reductions in MMO development work.
A laid-off developer from the Lord of the Rings team posted on LinkedIn: "This morning I was part of the layoffs at Amazon Games, alongside my incredibly talented peers on New World and our fledgling Lord of the Rings game (y'all would have loved it)." The post, since deleted, underscored the sense of loss within the development community.
The Lord of the Rings MMO was formally announced in 2023, but it never matured beyond early conceptual stages. At last summer's announcement, former Amazon Games chief Christoph Hartmann told IGN the team was still hunting for a unique angle. "We're still trying to find the hook, find that idea of what it is because we don't just want to go and do the same thing over," he explained. "You've got to find a fresh twist, and we're still, I think, in that period where we really want to find out what could be the hook."
Grattis' mention of "a compelling new game experience" raises questions about what Amazon might have in development. Industry chatter has centered on a potential Lord of the Rings RPG from Warhorse Studios, the Kingdom Come: Deliverance developer, which is owned by Embracer Group, the current rights holder for Tolkien's literary properties.
This is not Amazon's first false start with Middle-earth. In 2021, the company canceled an earlier Lord of the Rings MMORPG that had been announced in 2019, citing a contract dispute with Chinese gaming giant Tencent.
Embracer, which acquired the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit rights in 2022, has been explicit about its ambitions. The publisher stated it intends to exploit the IP "in a very significant fashion" by turning it into "one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world."
Author Emily Chen: "Amazon's vague statement about exploring a compelling new experience feels like corporate damage control, but if Warhorse is building an RPG in Middle-earth, that could actually be something worth watching."
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