Amazon does not agree with Tencent: MMORPG based on the “Lord of the Rings” canceled
The idea of creating an MMO based on the “Lord of the Rings” universe is catastrophically unlucky. In 2018, Leyou Technologies tried to release an MMORPG in the Lord of the Rings universe but failed to cope with the task and curtailed production. In 2019, Amazon Game Studios announced the project again, and again something went wrong …
The game, announced in 2019, was being developed at Amazon Game Studios along with the same Chinese company Leyou Technologies, which was acquired by the conglomerate Tencent Holdings last December. As a result of contract negotiations, a disagreement arose between Amazon and Tencent, which ultimately led to the game’s cancellation – Bloomberg reported this concerning its informants.
Reporters contacted Amazon, and a spokesperson for the company confirmed the cancellation: “Following the takeover of Leyou by Tencent, we were unable to secure the conditions to continue working on this project.” The Amazon team working on the game will be relocated to other projects. “We love the Lord of the Rings universe and are disappointed that we won’t be able to offer this game to our customers,” a Seattle-based company spokesman said in a statement.
The cancellation follows a string of bad news regarding Amazon Game Studios, which has failed to release a single successful video game since the gaming division’s launch in 2014. The company has also canceled several projects, including several announced publicly, such as the fantasy sports game Breakaway or the action hero Crucible. And its New World was postponed many times: initially, it was supposed to be released in May 2020, but it was postponed to August 2020, then to the spring of 2021, and recently to next August. Simultaneously, Amazon spends on its gaming division, according to Bloomberg, huge funds – almost $ 500 million a year.
Fans of the world created by John Tolkien’s pen can be hoped that the book-based series that Amazon is filming for its streaming service Prime will have better luck.
