Amazon Games' ambitious Lord of the Rings MMO will not be released. According to a former employee, the company shut down the project after massive layoffs that took place in the studio last week.
The information was confirmed by one of the former developers on LinkedIn:
"This morning I became part of the layoffs at Amazon Games along with my incredibly talented colleagues who worked on New World and our young game The Lord of the Rings (you would have loved it). It's always hard to see such a strong team go through something like this. I was fortunate to work with some of the most experienced, creative, and kind developers I have ever met here.
Although Amazon has not officially confirmed the cancellation, the decision coincides with a change in the company's strategy. After the cuts, Amazon Games announced that it was abandoning large MMOs and focusing on more compact and diverse games.
The project was created in collaboration with Embracer Group, and the Amazon Games Orange County studio — the creators of New World — was responsible for its foundation. The announcement took place in 2023, and the game was supposed to cover the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
