The Lord of the Rings MMO is "still early" and chasing "the thing which is different to all the other games out there"

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"We're still trying to find the hook"

Amazon Games has provided the teeniest, tiniest Lord of the Rings MMO update.

We haven't heard a whole lot (read: anything) about Amazon's Lord of the Rings MMO since it was announced. Amazon and Embracer Group revealed an agreement for the New World studio to make an MMO based on Tolkien's universe back in May 2023, but it's mostly been crickets since then.

"It's still early," Hartmann said. "It's a big IP, it's a big game. I know you're going to fish now probably every little word and try to read into it, but honestly, it's too early to read into every little word. We're still trying to find the hook, find that idea of what it is because we don't just want to go and do the same thing over. While it's tempting sometimes with an existing IP, that's not the point of doing it. You've got to find a fresh twist, and we're still, I think, in that period where we really want to find out what could be the hook, what could be the thing which is different to all the other games out there."

Basically, it sounds to me like the game is still in the early conceptual phase, which isn't entirely unusual for an in-house Amazon Games adaptation of one of the biggest IPs of all time. New World failed to establish itself, and both the developer and publisher are likely keen on taking the extra time to learn from those lessons and try something new.

Back in June, Amazon Games said it's "getting into a much more regular cadence of shipping games" and promised news on the Lord of the Rings MMO was coming "soon," but in the same breath said it doesn't want it to "be rushed out."

Meanwhile, as game actors strike for AI protections, Amazon Games boss says we need more AI and it's not "taking work away" because "for games, we don't really have acting".

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.