During the current week, amid an extensive round of workforce reductions across multiple divisions, an executive from Amazon announced that the company would be suspending a substantial portion of its active development efforts related to massively multiplayer online games, or MMOs. This decision appears to have had direct consequences for one of Amazon’s most anticipated projects—the Lord of the Rings MMO—which was being developed in collaboration with Embracer Group. The reorganization and redirection of resources have seemingly resulted in the cancellation of this long-awaited title, effectively halting production and closing a creative chapter that had captured the imagination of many within the gaming community.
One former senior gameplay engineer at Amazon Games, who was among those affected by the layoffs, shared an emotional message on LinkedIn describing their experience and the broader situation. The engineer stated that they, along with their highly skilled colleagues from both the New World team and the team behind the nascent Lord of the Rings MMO—described fondly as a game players would have ‘truly loved’—had been part of the recent job cuts. The post, cited by the gaming outlet Rock Paper Shotgun, has since become inaccessible to some users, as LinkedIn now displays a message indicating that the original post cannot be viewed. Despite the disappearance of the firsthand account, the sentiment underscores the impact of the layoffs on both the individuals involved and the ambitious projects they were passionately building.
At the time of writing, neither Amazon nor Embracer responded to media inquiries seeking further clarification or official statements regarding the fate of the collaboration or the specific reasons behind the project’s termination. Interestingly, the Lord of the Rings game continues to be listed on Amazon Games’ official website, suggesting that an administrative update has not yet mirrored the apparent internal decision, or that a formal announcement from the company is still pending.
In a related development that followed the broader layoffs, Amazon’s internal team behind New World: Aeternum—an original MMO developed by Amazon Games—announced that it would no longer roll out new content updates for the title. However, the company reassured the community that the game’s servers would remain operational until at least 2026, ensuring that existing players could continue to access the world they’ve invested time in. Simultaneously, Amazon confirmed that it would maintain ongoing support for two additional MMOs in its publishing portfolio: Throne and Liberty and Lost Ark. According to company spokesperson Brittney Hefner, these two games will remain part of Amazon’s active online gaming ecosystem for the foreseeable future, reflecting a shift in focus toward supporting existing properties rather than developing wholly new ones.
The now-canceled Lord of the Rings MMO represented Amazon’s second attempt at bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary universe to life in an expansive online format. The project, officially announced in 2023, followed an earlier endeavor that began in 2019 but met a similar fate two years later when development was halted. Both efforts exemplify the ambition and challenges inherent in translating one of the most beloved fantasy worlds into an interactive digital experience. While fans may continue to hold out hope for future explorations of Middle-earth in the MMO genre, this latest cancellation suggests that Amazon, at least for now, has chosen to step back from the monumental task of building a persistent online world within Tolkien’s mythic setting.
Sourse: https://www.theverge.com/news/810383/amazon-lotr-mmo-embracer-canceled-layoffs
