{"id":10287,"date":"2026-06-08T13:43:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T10:43:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/?p=10287"},"modified":"2026-06-08T19:34:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T16:04:33","slug":"amazon-still-wants-to-make-a-lord-of-the-rings-game-despite-canceling-the-mmo-it-was-working-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/2026\/06\/08\/amazon-still-wants-to-make-a-lord-of-the-rings-game-despite-canceling-the-mmo-it-was-working-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon Still Wants to Make a Lord of the Rings Game Despite Canceling the MMO It Was Working On"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Amazon says it still wants to make a game set in J. R. R. Tolkien&#8217;s fantasy universe despite canceling a Lord of the Rings MMO it had in development.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Earlier this year it was reported that Amazon\u2019s The Lord of the Rings MMO was dead, but with a sliver of hope that the company would still eventually release some sort of Lord of the Rings game in the future. Amazon issued a statement at the time saying: \u201cOur creative team continues to explore a compelling new game experience that does justice to Tolkien&#8217;s world; we are working closely with Middle-earth and remain excited about the IP.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">IGN spoke to Jeff Gattis, GM of Amazon Gaming at Summer Game Fest last week to find out more. \u201cWell, nothing&#8217;s been canceled per se,\u201d Gattis insisted, before revealing Amazon is currently evalulating various concepts to help figure out what kind of Lord of the Rings game it wants to make.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"slideshow-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-preview\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 slideshow-preview\">\n<h3 class=\"title5 jsx-62124236 jsx-1085005187\" data-cy=\"slideshow-preview-title\">The Best Lord of the Rings Video Games<\/h3>\n<div data-cy=\"slideshow-images-container\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 images-container\"><button type=\"button\" data-cy=\"hero-image\" aria-label=\"Open Slideshow\" class=\"jsx-1711207865 hero-image\">&lt;img alt=&quot;Tolkien\u2019s Middle-earth has captured the imagination of fantasy fans worldwide ever since The Hobbit was published in 1937. And although Peter Jackson is the film director who successfully brought the books to life on the big screen, you might be surprised to learn Middle-earth also has a rich video game history that goes back decades.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>\nThe earliest video game adaptation was created in 1982 by Beam Software, which developed a text-adventure game based on The Hobbit. The game was a huge hit and went on to sell over 500,000 units in Europe, despite middling reviews from critics. Such is the power of Tolkien\u2019s works.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>\nIn total, there are over 50 video games based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien that span numerous genres, like action-adventure, RPG, strategy, and more. As we prepare for another new Tolkien game just on the horizon, we\u2019ve gone through this long history and chosen the 11 best Lord of the Rings games ever made.<br \/>\n&#8221; decoding=&#8221;async&#8221; class=&#8221;progressive-image jsx-2896921488 image aspect-ratio aspect-ratio-16-9 jsx-2605834259 jsx-2338608387 hover-opacity&#8221; loading=&#8221;lazy&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/amazon-still-wants-to-make-a-lord-of-the-rings-game-despite-canceling-the-mmo-it-was-working-on.gif&#8221; data-cy=&#8221;progressive-image&#8221;&gt;<span class=\"button-text jsx-729543028 button button--primary jsx-3381835873 jsx-4266531355 row-pagination-button next contained centered round large\" data-cy=\"paginate next\" title=\"Open Slideshow\"><span class=\"ign-icon right-chevron jsx-2750866048 jsx-2919720488\" role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" data-cy=\"right-chevron\"><\/span><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cIt&#8217;s not the most satisfying answer, but the true answer is we&#8217;re still looking at a number of different things,\u201d Gattis said. \u201cI looked at a project a couple of weeks ago that I thought was quite compelling that perhaps we can go forward with. But evaluating different concepts is trying to figure out what game we want to make, what&#8217;s the right one for our audience, what&#8217;s the right one for the broader audience. And my hope is that we&#8217;ll get there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The usphot is Gattis confirmed to me that Amazon definitely stills plan to make a Lord of the Rings game, and that it would be completely separate to the recently announced Middle-earth open world RPG in development at Kingdom Come: Deliverance developer Warhorse.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Amazon is seemingly committed to making video games based on IP, both that it owns, such as Tomb Raider, James Bond, and The Lord of the Rings, as well as others outside of its portfolio, like the recently released Masters of the Universe: Legends Unite. But don\u2019t count on any brand new franchises being created solely for Amazon video games.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cWe have not been, to be candid with you, really focused on creating new IP per se, around characters and the like,\u201d Gattis said. \u201cThere are a lot of things that we&#8217;re investing in, which I call more innovative game mechanics and things like that. And there might be IP that comes out of that. Like I said, we&#8217;ve got a ton in development right now. We almost just wish this stuff could come faster so that I could have proof points to tell you instead of just saying, \u2018Trust me, we&#8217;ve got stuff coming.&#8217; But all in due time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Amazon\u2019s recent history in AAA game development has been rocky to say the least. Last year&#8217;s announcement that MMO New World would go into maintenance mode came as part of a round of layoffs affecting an eye-watering 14,000 roles. Bloomberg had reported that Amazon was cutting back especially on MMOs, and that the layoffs included \u201csignificant\u201d cuts to Amazon\u2019s video game operation across its Irvine and San Diego offices. Earlier this year, former Amazon Game Studios boss Christoph Hartman left the company in what was reported as a continued retreat from the PC and console video-game space in favor of Amazon&#8217;s cloud gaming service Luna.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Nonetheless, Gattis insisted that Amazon Game Studios remains active in the AAA market.<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cYeah, very much committed to it,\u201d he stated. \u201cBut committed to the right AAA for the platform. I think that&#8217;s part of the assessment we&#8217;ve done over the past year is just trying to understand what content makes sense. Tomb Raider makes a ton of sense, we think. There are other things in the pipeline. Broad appeal IP fits in with Prime Video. What we don&#8217;t want to necessarily do is AAA things that don&#8217;t really have any real reason to exist in Amazon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">Gattis admitted it hasn\u2019t been easy for Amazon to break into the AAA space, but hopes a new approach to what players can expect to play from Amazon Game Studios will help find its place in the market. <\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cI always start with very Amazon things,\u201d Gattis said. \u201cStart with your customer, understand your audience. And I think that&#8217;s been part of it for Amazon. I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s been a real clear understanding of what role Amazon plays in the game space and who we&#8217;re going after. I think there can be a tendency with a lot of big companies to say, &#8216;Oh, we see a big market. We want to be in it.&#8217; And that&#8217;s not really the Amazon way. Let&#8217;s zoom out and figure out, where is there an opportunity that&#8217;s underserved in the market and how can Amazon actually bring some unique value here? And if we can&#8217;t, let&#8217;s stay out of it. And I think it&#8217;s been that assessment to give me confidence that we&#8217;ve got it right now, but it&#8217;s hard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">\u201cThe AAA space in particular, very difficult to break into,\u201d he continued. \u201cThese companies have spent literally decades and billions and tens of billions of dollars to build up install bases and IP and network effects and friends and all the stores. So I think it&#8217;s going to be very hard for a brand new high end platform to emerge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\">The first big test for this new approach from Amazon, will be its revival of Tomb Raider, with Legacy of Atlantis \u2014 a reimagining of Lara Croft\u2019s original adventure coming in February 2027 \u2014 followed by a entirely new game, Tomb Raider: Catalyst and the Sophie Turner-led Prime Video TV show.<\/p>\n<p><span data-cy=\"poll-view-trigger\"><\/p>\n<section class=\"box-wrapper jsx-2673806401\"><\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p data-cy=\"paragraph\" class=\"paragraph jsx-2269604527\"><em>Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at <\/em>@cardy.bsky.social<em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/amazon-still-wants-to-make-a-lord-of-the-rings-game-despite-canceling-the-mmo-it-was-working-on.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/amazon-still-wants-to-make-a-lord-of-the-rings-game-despite-canceling-the-mmo-it-was-working-on.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/amazon-still-wants-to-make-a-lord-of-the-rings-game-despite-canceling-the-mmo-it-was-working-on.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/amazon-still-wants-to-make-a-lord-of-the-rings-game-despite-canceling-the-mmo-it-was-working-on.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[50],"class_list":["post-10287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-49","tag-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10287"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10289,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10287\/revisions\/10289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imdbnews.ir\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}