Remember how Amazon's Lord of the Rings MMO was coming in 2022? Nope! It's not coming in 2022. It's not coming at all.
A report has detailed how contracted developer Athlon Games—a subsidiary of Leyou, which was acquired by Tencent—won't be moving forward with the game. Contract negotiations between Amazon and now-owner Tencent seem to have broken down, causing a dispute.
"We have been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time," an Amazon spokesperson said. "We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers,” they continued.
It looks like the Amazon-based team which had been collaborating on the game will be moved to other projects. It's not too surprising, given the nature of Amazon, which doesn't particularly play well with other megacorporations, and Tencent, which likes to have a finger in every pie. Add that to the troubled nature of Amazon Game Studios and this is pretty much what you get.
Amazon Game Studios, which was founded in 2014, has yet to release a game. It has cancelled every high-profile game in development at some point, such as Breakaway and Crucible. It appears that New World will likely be the studio's first release when it hits this August.
