Amazon Kills Its Lord of the Rings MMO for the Second Time

Two attempts. Two cancellations. Amazon has now killed a Lord of the Rings MMO for the second time, confirming what most people assumed after last year's mass layoffs gutted the company's game development teams.

Amazon's head of games Jeff Grattis confirmed the news to Eurogamer as part of a larger investigation into the company's push toward generative AI. His statement is the kind of corporate nothing-speak that has become Amazon Games' signature: "Our creative team continues to explore a new game experience that does justice to Tolkien's world; we are working closely with Middle-earth and remain excited about the IP." No details on what that game is, no timeline, no indication it's anything more than a licensing agreement they'd rather not let expire.

The first Lord of the Rings MMO Amazon tried to build was announced in 2019 and scrapped in 2021 following a contract dispute with Tencent. The second was announced in May 2023 as a partnership with Embracer Group's Middle-earth Enterprises. According to Eurogamer's sources, it barely got off the ground. For years it had only one or two people working on it as a side project, producing a single piece of concept art every few months. When Amazon finally started transitioning over 1,000 developers from New World onto the Lord of the Rings team, the company-wide layoffs hit, cutting around 14,000 staff. An internal memo from Amazon's VP of games reportedly stated the company was halting "a significant amount" of its first-party AAA work, specifically around MMOs.

I struggle to think of another company that has announced the same type of game twice, with one of the most valuable IPs in entertainment, and failed to ship anything either time. Amazon Games has proven it can keep live-service titles running; Lost Ark, Throne and Liberty, and New World (until its sunset in January 2027) are all still operational. But building something new from scratch with a clear creative vision? That remains completely beyond them. Grattis's vague promise of a future Middle-earth "game experience" reads less like a plan and more like a placeholder to keep the Embracer relationship warm. Reports suggest both Warhorse Studios and Crystal Dynamics may be working on their own Lord of the Rings projects, and at this point, either studio seems far more likely to actually ship one.