The Lord of the Rings MMO from Amazon is set to be a ten-year game, hopefully, as the studio talks about how it’s tackling the development of the MMORPG and bringing the world of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to life.
Amazon and Embracer Group just announced that they’re making a brand new Lord of the Rings MMO, with the Amazon studio behind New World helming the development. In the wake of the announcement, we’ve learned a little bit more about the developer’s plans.
We’ve heard that Amazon wants the game to be around for ten years or more when it launches, but that development won’t be rushed to reach that goal.
“It’s done when it’s done and when it’s ready,” Amazon Games VP Christoph Hartmann tells GamesIndustry.biz. “That’s it. I want that thing to be alive for ten years plus. We’re not going to ship something which is not ready. Obviously, we’d all like it to come as soon as possible out of personal interest, but we’re only going to get it out when it’s really ready to go.”
The Lord of the Rings MMO from Amazon doesn’t have a release date yet, as it’s still in the prototyping stage of development, meaning there’s a long way to go.
Hartmann also talks about how Amazon intends to keep the game loyal to both The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings books, with it being a game first, and book universe second.
“For me, it’s still very important that it’s first a game, and then a reflection of the books second,” Hartmann says. “So while I need to stay true, I always, and I’m reminding the team already, ‘I get it, but it’s not about every person going and pointing out if that detail is 100% perfect.’ Let’s say the way [Tolkien] describes the world, maybe the landscape looks a little bit different because either we can’t get it going or the art people feel it might look a little bit different than what people assume it is in the book.”
This isn’t the first time Amazon has tried making a Lord of the Rings MMO either, as back in 2019 it announced it was working on such a game, before the IP owner at the time, Tencent, couldn’t come to an agreement about the project, leading to it being canceled a few years later.
If the news of a LOTR MMO excites you, you might want to check out our breakdown of the best fantasy games on PC.
