Amazon Has Cancelled Long-Awaited Lord Of The Rings Game
The Lord of the Rings game by Amazon Game Studios has been cancelled, two years after it was announced.
The reason behind the cancellation was reportedly due to failed negotiations between Tencent and Amazon, Bloomberg reports. Following the announcement in 2019 between Amazon and Leyou Technologies' publishing label, Athlon Games, Leyou was acquired by Tencent the following year in 2020.
Speaking to Bloomberg, an Amazon spokesperson said that following the Tencent acquisition, they were "unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time." They then added: "We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won't be bringing this game to customers."
According to reports, the team behind the game has been moved to other projects.
However, if you're still pining for a LotR game, you'll be glad to know that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum trailer has recently been released.
The game, by developer Daedalic Entertainment, has the premise that decisions made throughout the game will affect Gollum's eventual outcome. As we can see from the trailer above, he travels through a multitude of different locations, including an arachnophobia-inducing spider nest. The developers are looking to highlight the internal conflict between Gollum and Sméagol - the hobbit he once was. In theory, it will climax in a solution to "whether the darker side of Gollum takes over or if there is a spark of reason left in what once was Sméagol".
Earlier this year, Daedalic Entertainment revealed that they had struck a co-publishing and distribution agreement with NACON. They said: "The universe will be faithfully represented thanks to the partnership with Middle-Earth Enterprises".
Developer Jonas Husges also recently spoke to Official PlayStation Magazine 182 about the game being next-gen: "Gollum’s actions become more tangible and his physical struggle when he runs out of stamina translates directly to the way the game is played". The implication being that the DualSense controller will give more resistance as Gollum's health depletes.
Art Director Mathias Fischer added: "Clean, ray-traced shadows allow for maximum effect in player guidance in building stealth passages while dynamic and moving light sources bring in the extra challenge when Gollum is roaming through the darkness. All these things, of course, have the nice side-effect of making the game feel vast, and such free-roaming environments we are creating look as spectacular as Middle-earth deserves".
The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X next year.
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Images via New Line Cinema