Amazon says it nonetheless needs to make a recreation set in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy universe regardless of canceling a Lord of the Rings MMO it had in growth.
Earlier this 12 months it was reported that Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings MMO was lifeless, however with a sliver of hope that the firm would nonetheless ultimately launch some kind of Lord of the Rings recreation in the future. Amazon issued a assertion at the time saying: “Our artistic staff continues to discover a compelling new recreation expertise that does justice to Tolkien’s world; we’re working carefully with Center-earth and stay enthusiastic about the IP.”
IGN spoke to Jeff Gattis, GM of Amazon Gaming at Summer season Game Fest final week to discover out extra. “Nicely, nothing’s been canceled per se,” Gattis insisted, earlier than revealing Amazon is at the moment evalulating numerous ideas to assist determine what sort of Lord of the Rings recreation it needs to make.
“It’s not the most satisfying reply, however the true reply is we’re nonetheless taking a look at a quantity of various things,” Gattis stated. “I checked out a venture a couple of weeks in the past that I assumed was fairly compelling that maybe we will go ahead with. However evaluating totally different ideas is making an attempt to determine what recreation we would like to make, what’s the proper one for our viewers, what’s the proper one for the broader viewers. And my hope is that we’ll get there.”
The usphot is Gattis confirmed to me that Amazon undoubtedly stills plan to make a Lord of the Rings recreation, and that it could be utterly separate to the not too long ago introduced Center-earth open world RPG in growth at Kingdom Come: Deliverance developer Warhorse.
Amazon is seemingly dedicated to making video video games based mostly on IP, each that it owns, resembling Tomb Raider, James Bond, and The Lord of the Rings, in addition to others outdoors of its portfolio, like the not too long ago launched Masters of the Universe: Legends Unite. However don’t depend on any model new franchises being created solely for Amazon video video games.
“We have now not been, to be candid with you, actually centered on creating new IP per se, round characters and the like,” Gattis stated. “There are a lot of issues that we’re investing in, which I name extra revolutionary recreation mechanics and issues like that. And there is likely to be IP that comes out of that. Like I stated, we have a ton in growth proper now. We nearly simply want these items may come sooner in order that I may have proof factors to let you know as a substitute of simply saying, ‘Belief me, we have stuff coming.’ However all in due time.”
Amazon’s latest historical past in AAA recreation growth has been rocky to say the least. Final 12 months’s announcement that MMO New World would go into upkeep mode got here as half of a spherical of layoffs affecting an eye-watering 14,000 roles. Bloomberg had reported that Amazon was reducing again particularly on MMOs, and that the layoffs included “vital” cuts to Amazon’s online game operation throughout its Irvine and San Diego places of work. Earlier this 12 months, former Amazon Game Studios boss Christoph Hartman left the firm in what was reported as a continued retreat from the PC and console video-game area in favor of Amazon’s cloud gaming service Luna.
Nonetheless, Gattis insisted that Amazon Game Studios stays lively in the AAA market.
“Yeah, very a lot dedicated to it,” he said. “However dedicated to the proper AAA for the platform. I feel that is half of the evaluation we have achieved over the previous 12 months is simply making an attempt to perceive what content material is sensible. Tomb Raider makes a ton of sense, we predict. There are different issues in the pipeline. Broad enchantment IP matches in with Prime Video. What we do not need to essentially do is AAA issues that do not actually have any actual motive to exist in Amazon.”
Gattis admitted it hasn’t been simple for Amazon to break into the AAA area, however hopes a new strategy to what gamers can anticipate to play from Amazon Game Studios will assist discover its place in the market.
“I at all times begin with very Amazon issues,” Gattis stated. “Begin together with your buyer, perceive your viewers. And I feel that is been half of it for Amazon. I do not suppose there’s been a actual clear understanding of what function Amazon performs in the recreation area and who we’re going after. I feel there will be a tendency with a lot of huge firms to say, ‘Oh, we see a huge market. We would like to be in it.’ And that is not likely the Amazon manner. Let’s zoom out and determine, the place is there a chance that is underserved in the market and the way can Amazon truly deliver some distinctive worth right here? And if we will not, let’s keep out of it. And I feel it has been that evaluation to give me confidence that we have got it proper now, nevertheless it’s onerous.”
“The AAA area specifically, very troublesome to break into,” he continued. “These firms have spent actually a long time and billions and tens of billions of {dollars} to construct up set up bases and IP and community results and buddies and all the shops. So I feel it is going to be very onerous for a model new excessive finish platform to emerge.”
The primary huge check for this new strategy from Amazon, can be its revival of Tomb Raider, with Legacy of Atlantis — a reimagining of Lara Croft’s authentic journey coming in February 2027 — adopted by a solely new recreation, Tomb Raider: Catalyst and the Sophie Turner-led Prime Video TV present.
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can primarily be discovered skulking round open world video games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Observe him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.