Amazon Games and Middle-earth Enterprises, subsidiary of Embracer Group and member of the operative group Freemode, have announced an agreement for an upcoming Lord Of The Rings massively multiplayer online (MMO) game for console and PC. Amazon Game’s internal studio Amazon Games Orange County, developers of popular MMORPG New World, has been tasked with leading its development. The currently untitled game will be set in Middle-earth and will feature “the stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.”
Multiple figures from Amazon Games and Embracer group released statements showing their excitement towards the collaboration in its press release, including CEO of Freemode Lee Guinchard and VP of Amazon Games Christoph Hartmann.
“The world of Middle-earth continues to prove an endlessly fertile ground for creators, and Amazon Games has a passion for building immersive, compelling worlds and publishing games for a global audience,” said Guinchard. “We have the clear ambition to create the highest-quality entertainment products for this IP, whether we utilize internal resources or team up with the best industry partners that complement our capabilities. We’re taking every care to deliver an MMO which will do justice to the expansive Middle-earth universe and delight players around the world.”
“We’re honored and flattered by their faith in us,” said Hartmann.”and we’re determined to build the best possible The Lord of the Rings MMO and something that the franchise’s millions of fans all over the world will truly love.”
Hartmann continued, expressing his gratitude towards Embracer Group for green lighting the project after Amazon Game’s previous pitch fell through.
“…We’re honored and flattered by their faith in us,” he continued. “And we’re determined to build the best possible The Lord of the Rings MMO and something that the franchise’s millions of fans all over the world will truly love.” Hartmann concluded.
In a separate article, director of the Amazon Games Orange County studio Rich Lawrence shared his confidence in his team’s ability to stay faithful towards the source material. “We understand this world. The people working on this team love these works,” said Lawrence. “We’re right there with you; we’re fans, and we want to make a game that we, as fans, will enjoy.”
In addition to the upcoming Lord Of The Rings title, Amazon Games has seven other upcoming collaborative projects including the next game in the Tomb Raider franchise with Crystal Dynamics, the upcoming MMORPG Blue Protocol with Bandai Namco Online, Throne & Liberty with NCSOFT, and other unanounced projects with Glowmade and Disruptive Games.