The Lord of the Rings online role-playing game that was announced last 2019 has just been officially canceled. Amazon Game Studios along with China-based partner Leyou have announced that the planned free-to-play title has been axed after being in development for two years.
The MMO supposedly would have explored never-before-seen creatures, lands, and stories from the Tolkien universe. And having Leyou on board, the game would have benefitted from the company’s expertise in MMO game development. But Leyou was acquired by League of Legends developer Tencent last December which became the reason why the LOTR game was dropped.
According to an Amazon spokesperson, after Tencent had acquired Leyou, Amazon and Tencent were “unable to secure terms to proceed with the title at this time.” The team that was working on the game will be assigned to other projects but they expressed their disappointment in discontinuing the game as they were also fans of the franchise.
Lord of the Rings fans need not worry, though, as they’ll still get a chance to visit an unknown side of Middle Earth. Amazon Game Studios may not be pushing through with the game but the Amazon-produced Lord of the Rings series is still well on its way.