The Real Reason Amazon Studios Pulled the Plug on Its Biggest Lord of the Rings Project

Amazon just quietly axed its Lord of the Rings MMO. Yes, again. It surfaced because a former Amazon Games engineer mentioned it while saying she was laid off, and the whole thing lines up with the company tightening belts and shuffling teams. Here is what was actually in the works, why this stings for fans, and what Middle-earth game might still be on the way.

The cancellation came out via layoffs

Ex-Amazon Games engineer Ashleigh Amrine shared on LinkedIn that she was let go and name-checked the in-development LotR project, which had not been officially announced.

"This morning I was part of the layoffs at Amazon Games, alongside my incredibly talented peers on New World and our fledgling Lord of the Rings game (y'all would have loved it)."

Internally, the project was described as a big swing, and its shutdown tracks with the latest cost-cutting and reorg moves at Amazon Games. No official statement yet, just the paper trail of restructuring.

What that MMO was supposed to be

Details were thin by design, but the plan (first announced in 2023) was to put a fresh spin on J.R.R. Tolkien's world and pull in events from both the main trilogy and The Hobbit. Amazon Games was building it with Embracer Group, which currently holds the interactive rights to those franchises.

Deja vu: this was Amazon's second LotR MMO attempt

If you feel like you have seen this headline before, you have. Amazon tried to get a LotR MMO going back in 2019, and that version fell apart in 2021 over contract complications. Different attempt, same result.

Meanwhile, Amazon is still in Middle-earth on TV

The game may be dead, but The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power keeps rolling. Season 3 is in production at Amazon.

A separate LotR game is reportedly moving forward

While Amazon's MMO is toast, another Lord of the Rings game is in development elsewhere. Insider Gaming reports that Embracer, a studio called Revenge, and additional partners are building a new third-person action title.

The project is said to be partially funded by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, with a roughly $100 million deal that has already been signed after about a year of negotiations. It has not been publicly announced, and the pitch (per some sources) is ambitious enough to "compete with Hogwarts Legacy." Asked about it, both Embracer and Revenge declined to comment.

• 2019: Amazon starts its first LotR MMO; it collapses in 2021 over contract issues.
• 2023: A new Amazon/Embracer LotR MMO is quietly in development, meant to remix events from the trilogy and The Hobbit.
• Now: The new MMO is canceled amid Amazon Games layoffs and restructuring, confirmed via a developer's LinkedIn post.
• Also now: Embracer, Revenge, and others are working on a separate, unannounced third-person LotR action game with around $100 million in funding from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.
• On TV: Amazon is still producing The Rings of Power Season 3.

Short version: Amazon's MMO is gone before most of us even saw it, but Middle-earth gaming is not going anywhere.