adminAmazon has reportedly canceled its Lord of the Rings MMO, according to people familiar with the project. The company has not confirmed the cancellation, but Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis says its creative team is exploring a new game experience set in Tolkien’s world.
Image credit: Amazon Games
What happened to the Lord of the Rings MMO?
Reports say the project was halted shortly after layoffs affected Amazon’s Games division last October. Gattis did not confirm or deny that the MMO had been canceled. Instead, he said the team is continuing to consider a new way to bring the franchise to games.
“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 Enterprises and remain excited about the IP,” Gattis said.
That statement leaves the status of the previously announced MMO unclear. For players, the key distinction is that Amazon has expressed continued interest in the franchise, but has not announced that the original online role-playing game is moving forward.
A second Amazon MMO project
Amazon first announced plans for a Lord of the Rings MMO in 2019, working with Leyou Technologies. The project was canceled two years later, after Tencent acquired Leyou in 2020. Amazon then announced a new partnership with Embracer, which owns Middle-earth Enterprises, in 2023 to develop another MMO based on the franchise.
Amazon Games Orange County, the studio behind New World, was leading development of the newer project. The MMO was reportedly in pre-production when layoffs took place. Sources also said around 1,000 developers had started moving from New World to the Lord of the Rings project in the months before the cuts.
New World is scheduled to go offline in January 2027. The reported changes affected teams working on both games, although the available statements do not clarify what will happen to staff assigned to the Lord of the Rings project.
Layoffs, MMO strategy and AI claims
An internal memo from Steve Boom, Amazon’s vice president of audio, Twitch and games, reportedly attributed the layoffs to a decision to stop a significant amount of first-party game development, particularly work related to MMOs.
Sources also claimed that an AI mandate introduced before the layoffs contributed to the cuts. Their claims included development of an internal project called Project Trident, which was reportedly designed to rely heavily on generative AI. Gattis rejected the claim that AI was the reason for role reductions in the Games division, describing the changes as part of a “strategic shift in [Amazon’s] business.”
“Great games are made by talented people and we think AI should expand what’s possible,” Gattis said. He added that Amazon intends to use the technologies thoughtfully and responsibly, guided by the creativity and judgment of its teams.
What players should know
For now, the Lord of the Rings MMO’s cancellation remains reported rather than officially confirmed by Amazon. The company’s comments point to ongoing interest in a new game experience, but do not establish whether that experience is the same project announced in 2023 or a separate effort. Players should treat the MMO’s future as uncertain until Amazon provides a clear update.
In short, the Lord of the Rings MMO has reportedly been canceled amid wider changes to Amazon’s game development plans, while the company says it is still exploring the franchise. The next meaningful update will need to clarify whether the planned MMO has ended and what kind of game, if any, Amazon intends to make instead.
