Why was the Lord of the Rings MMO canceled? Amazon explains the reasons for the decision

Amazon Games Studios explains how Leyou’s change of ownership derailed the project.

After several years of waiting and a millionaire investment, the Lord of the Rings series premiered last weekend on Amazon Prime Video: The Rings of Power. However, this was not the only project related to the Tolkien universe that the tech giant was working on. there was an ongoing MMO this was also canceled a few months ago. What really happened?

Amazon Games Studios president Christoph Hartmann didn’t shy away from the question and assured GameSpot that the development was derailed as Tencent Games took control of Leyou Technologies Holdings Ltd. press, but the director now deepens the explanation of how negotiation has become “too complicated”.

“We had a deal with a company based in Leyou, Hong Kong, I think it would be great to work with them, but then they were sold to Tencent and everything got very complicated,” Hartmann told the US portal. “Maybe we could work together, but I think we are too big companies to accept the role of a partnerWhere they own and develop the IP”.

GameSpot also explains that Middle-earth Enterprises implemented a termination clause in the license agreement after announcing the acquisition of Leyou by Tencent, thus further complicating the situation.

Despite everything, they tried to reach a common point, but the matter went too far and they decided to put an end to it as announced in 2021. Now the franchise is on everyone’s lips once again on the networks with the television series and Amazon. While Games Studios has shown some success in the genre with Lost Ark and New World, the video game company’s plans seem a long way off from Tolkien.

We recently learned that the Lord of the Rings rights have been acquired by the Embracer Group, with TLotR: Gollum for PC and consoles on the horizon.

More on: Lord of the Rings, Amazon Game Studios, Leyou Technologies, Tencent Games, and Lord of the Rings MMO F2P.