Remember that Lord of the Rings free-to-play MMORPG announced last year to be in development for PC and consoles? Well, as it turns out, it's being developed by Amazon Game Studios in collaboration with Leyou and Middle-earth Enterprises. According to the press release, Amazon has assembled a team of veterans who have worked on online games like Everquest, Destiny, Planetside, World of Warcraft, Defiance, Rift, and more. Resources from the Amazon Game Studios offices of Seattle, Irvine and San Diego will be utilized for this Lord of the Rings game.
Christoph Hartmann, VP at Amazon Game Studios, said in a statement:
We’re committed to bringing customers games of the highest quality, both with our own original IP as well as beloved cultural pillars like The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien’s Middle-earth is one of the richest fictional worlds in history, and it gives our team of experienced MMO developers – from the same studio developing New World – tremendous opportunity to play and create. We have a strong leadership team in place to helm this new project, and we’re actively growing our team to help build this incredible experience.
Alex Xu, CEO of Leyou Technologies Holdings, stated:
Bringing Middle-earth to life necessitates having the very best partners, and Amazon’s customer obsession, technology, and talented teams make it the ideal choice for a co-developer and publisher. We believe our combined resources and expertise will result in a beautiful and compelling game that customers will love and play for years to come.
Fredrica Drotos, Chief Brand and Licensing Officer at Middle-earth Enterprises, added:
Who among us hasn’t wanted to take part in an epic adventure? More than 60 years after the publication of The Fellowship of the Ring, we’re delighted that Amazon Game Studios has partnered with Leyou to bring their respective expertise to build a much-anticipated game that will immerse us in the beloved, epic world of Middle-earth, envisioned by Professor Tolkien.
Amazon is also working on another MMORPG called New World, which recently ended its Alpha phase, while the TV division is producing a live-action Lord of the Rings series due to release on Amazon Prime Video. The press release makes it clear the two Lord of the Rings projects, the game and the TV Series, are completely unrelated other than the IP they're based on.
We'll keep you updated on any noteworthy news for the upcoming Lord of the Rings MMORPG. Stay tuned.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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