Amazon is still working on a Lord of the Rings game, but it is not an MMO

Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO is dead, but the company has not walked away from Middle earth.

A new report says Amazon still has a Lord of the Rings game in development or exploration, even after cancelling its long troubled MMO project. Amazon Games head Jeff Gattis told Eurogamer that the team is still exploring a new game experience that can “do justice to Tolkien’s world.”

That confirms something is still happening with the license, even if Amazon is not ready to announce the project yet.

The old Lord of the Rings MMO had a messy history. It was cancelled, rebooted, and then cancelled again after Amazon made major cuts to its games division last year. The new report makes clear that the MMO is definitely not coming back.

That leaves a lot of questions. Amazon has not said whether the new project is an RPG, action adventure game, survival game, strategy title, or something else entirely.

The only clear point is that it is not the MMO fans were previously expecting.

There are also several other Lord of the Rings game rumors floating around. A Return to Moria sequel was seemingly hinted at through a developer’s LinkedIn profile last year. Reports have also pointed to possible Lord of the Rings projects at Warhorse Studios and Crystal Dynamics.

The Amazon project could even be connected to the rumored Crystal Dynamics game, though that has not been confirmed.

For now, the best reading is simple: Amazon still sees value in Lord of the Rings games, but it may be moving away from the expensive MMO route. That could be a smart decision. MMOs are costly, risky, and difficult to sustain, especially in a market where players already have long term online games competing for their time.

A more focused single player or co op game could be easier to build and easier to judge on its own merits.

The important part is execution. Lord of the Rings is not a license that benefits from a generic game with familiar names attached. Fans expect strong worldbuilding, a careful tone, meaningful locations, and respect for Tolkien’s mythology.

Amazon saying it wants to make something that does justice to Tolkien’s world is the right message. But after the MMO’s troubled development, players will likely wait for real gameplay before getting too excited.

For now, the Lord of the Rings MMO is gone. But Amazon’s Middle earth plans are not over. A different kind of Lord of the Rings game is still being explored, and it may be the project that finally gives Amazon another serious chance in gaming.