Amazon has reportedly canceled its LOTR MMO

Amazon has reportedly canceled its Lord of the Rings (LOTR) MMO, which was being developed in partnership with Embracer.
The cancellation comes as part of Amazon’s significant layoffs and restructuring efforts, affecting various game development teams, including those working on New World and the LOTR MMO.
Amazon will continue to support two existing MMOs: Throne and Liberty, and Lost Ark, which will receive ongoing updates and support.
The planned LOTR MMO was announced in 2023 as Amazon’s second attempt at an MMO in the LOTR universe, following a previous game that was canceled in 2019.
Developers of New World: Aeternum have also announced that they will no longer provide new content updates for the game, although its servers will remain live through 2026.

A photo from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

This week, as part of its big layoffs, an Amazon exec said that the company is halting a “significant” amount of its work on MMOs, and the changes appear to have led to the Lord of the Rings MMO the company was working on with Embracer being canceled.

“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),” a former senior gameplay engineer for Amazon Games said on LinkedIn, according to Rock Paper Shotgun. (For me, when I try to see the post, LinkedIn shows a message that says “this post cannot be displayed.”)

Amazon and Embracer didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment. As of this writing, the LOTR game is still listed on the Amazon Games website.

After the layoffs were announced, the developers of New World: Aeternum, an MMO Amazon developed in-house, said they would no longer be providing new content updates for the game, though its servers will stay live through 2026. Amazon will continue to support two MMOs that it publishes, Throne and Liberty and Lost Ark, company spokesperson Brittney Hefner told The Verge this week.

The planned Lord of the Rings game with Embracer, announced in 2023, was Amazon’s second run at an MMO in the LOTR universe; the first MMO was revealed in 2019 before being canceled two years later.

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Q. What is Amazon reportedly canceling?

A. The Lord of the Rings MMO, which was being developed with Embracer.

Q. Why did Amazon cancel the LOTR MMO?

A. As part of its big layoffs and halting a “significant” amount of work on MMOs.

Q. How many MMOs will Amazon continue to support after canceling the LOTR game?

A. Two, Throne and Liberty, and Lost Ark.

Q. What happened to the developers of New World: Aeternum after the layoffs were announced?

A. They would no longer be providing new content updates for the game, but its servers will stay live through 2026.

Q. When was the first LOTR MMO announced by Amazon?

A. In 2019.

Q. Why did the first LOTR MMO get canceled two years after its announcement?

A. (Not specified in the text).

Q. What is the current status of the Lord of the Rings game on the Amazon Games website?

A. It is still listed, but no further information is available due to a LinkedIn post being removed.