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Amazon has reportedly canceled its Lord of the Rings MMO

KyoZz

Tag, you're it.
It's not that easy to start a video game division...

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Amazon.com Inc.’s embattled video game division has canceled an online role-playing game based on the fantasy series Lord of the Rings, which was announced in 2019, in another setback for the technology giant.

The game had been in development at Amazon Game Studios alongside the China-based Leyou Technologies Holdings Ltd., which was purchased by conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd. in December.
The resulting contract negotiations led to a dispute between Amazon and Tencent that eventually caused the game’s cancellation, said people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the issue.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that after Tencent’s acquisition of Leyou, “we have been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time.”
The Amazon team working on the game will be moved to other projects:
“We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers,” the spokesperson for the Seattle-based company said in a statement.

The cancellation follows a string of bad news for Amazon Game Studios, which has been unable to release a successful video game since launching in 2014.
The company has canceled previous announced games Breakaway and Crucible. Another of its games, New World, has been delayed repeatedly.

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Agent X

Member
As Dave Blankenship once said regarding the fabled "Money Pit" on Oak Island in Nova Scotia, Canada:

"It's appropriately named. It's a pit that we keep throwing money into."
 
So is this pretty much it for Amazon as far as gaming goes? Let's assume it is for a moment. What would the resulting fallout be? Would they attempt to court Sony again for AWS? Would they want to keep Twitch? Didn't they create a game engine that they'd no longer have use for?
 

MagiusNecros

Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
MMO wise it's gonna be rather difficult to top WoW, FFXIV, GW2.

Most MMOs are rather scummy in business model so if they aren't outright cancelled they are liable to shutdown after a few months to a year.
 
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AMSCD

Member
I wonder if they could release it with without LOTR skins, lore, and branding? They could potentially still release the game, but in a different fantasy setting.
 

Agent X

Member
So is this pretty much it for Amazon as far as gaming goes? Let's assume it is for a moment. What would the resulting fallout be? Would they attempt to court Sony again for AWS? Would they want to keep Twitch? Didn't they create a game engine that they'd no longer have use for?

AFAIK, Twitch is a raging success for them. Most of their other video game ventures...not so much.

Luna is a fairly cool streaming service that Amazon runs, but it's starting to sputter out. I don't think it's evolving quickly enough.
 
I love LOTR, and enjoyed the movie games alot. I dabbled in the first MMO, and thought it was okay (but not brilliant, very dated now)...

Never really got on with Middle earth: shadow games. Never felt 'Lord of the ringsy' to me. Just felt generic. Gollum looks okay but a bit low budget.

Was actually really looking forward to this game so this is sad :(
 
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Spacefish

Member
This narrative doesn't make any sense, It was more tencents MMO and disagreements about licensing have shuttered it. This doesn't seem all that connected with the internal troubles of amazon game studios. Jason keeps framing these bits of information in weird ways that are twisting for a bigger story.
 

Elysion

Banned
I‘m actually surprised just how much Amazon has failed when it comes to gaming. I‘d have thought that, even if their efforts are somewhat clumsy, that something would eventually stick thanks to their endless pockets. They are a technology company after all, so it‘s not as if gaming is completely removed from their area of expertise. The same is true for Google; another tech giant that failed utterly in this particular field.
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
Do we want Amazon or Google making games? I don't.
I'm not against ANYONE making games, I just don't care for ANOTHER platform to play them on. I don't want to have a Stadia to play a game, but I'm totally down for both Amazon and Google tipping their hat into developing/publishing games as if they suck, no skin off my back.
 

Varteras

Gold Member
I was more surprised to find out that Amazon was making more than one MMO. They've already had enough trouble trying to get New World out the door. It's gone through very substantial changes to the point of being an almost entirely different game from what I understand. MMOs are incredibly costly to make both in initial development and upkeep. They also take a very long time to get sorted out before they're ready for release. Jumping into the world of game creation and having even just one MMO is a ballsy and likely disastrous move. Nevermind multiple projects.
 

JayK47

Member
I'm not against ANYONE making games, I just don't care for ANOTHER platform to play them on. I don't want to have a Stadia to play a game, but I'm totally down for both Amazon and Google tipping their hat into developing/publishing games as if they suck, no skin off my back.
It's my understanding that both Amazon and Google sucked up a bunch of game developer talent and so far have nothing to show for it. Maybe that is why the only thing we seem to be getting lately are remasters and PC releases of years old console games. I really don't want mega corporations making games. They are not passionate about gaming and only want to mine your data while requiring a subscription.
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
It's my understanding that both Amazon and Google sucked up a bunch of game developer talent and so far have nothing to show for it. Maybe that is why the only thing we seem to be getting lately are remasters and PC releases of years old console games. I really don't want mega corporations making games. They are not passionate about gaming and only want to mine your data while requiring a subscription.
Guess I forgot Sony, MSFT and Nintendo are all indie-devs....

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reinking

Gold Member
Doesn't work like that. Money doesn't make a good console company.
MS says hi. Not only did they spend their way into the market they are currently trying to spend their way into taking the majority of it.

People want to complain against companies like Amazon but if they keep it to streaming I have no problem with them getting into the market. I am not afraid of them buying out studios any more than I am the current console makers doing the same. I won't like it if any of them start gobbling them up.
 
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Alright

Banned
MS says hi. Not only did they spend their way into the market they are currently trying to spend their way into taking the majority of it.

People want to complain against companies like Amazon but if they keep it to streaming I have no problem with them getting into the market. I am not afraid of them buying out studios any more than I am the current console makers doing the same. I won't like it if any of them start gobbling them up.
MS have sunk billions and two decades going from understanding the market better than anyone, to trying to force the market in to accepting something it does not want.

Are Amazon confident enough that they will get it right first time like Microsoft, not make mistakes and not spend Three generations at the bottom?

What could Amazon offer that Microsoft Sony or Nintendo don't?
 
Screw the MMO, someone needs to make an open world game that uses characters we actually know or even maybe the Blue Wizards that nobody knows much about but actually existed in the same timeframe as people we are familiar with. I am not excited at all to be playing as Gollum in the new game, would love to play a game as Gandalf at some point though.
 

demigod

Member
This doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t Amazon be the publisher? Why can’t they finish it themselves or even contract another company to finish it?
 

Holammer

Member
You can't visual overhaul that game. You'll need a Blue-Point Esque remake.
With the competition out of the way and the only game in town, they don't even need to do anything to make money.
With a 2022 release, I'm expecting Daybreak to show it off this summer.
 
Tencent probably decided it's better and cheaper to end the contract, pay Amazon whatever was needed and move Leyou to something else.



LG was initially making cosmetics and Nokia made paper for like 100 years (including apparently excellent toilet paper).
Apparently reality isn't as it seems. A glitch in the Matrix would be understated. This is like a game breaking bug.
 
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