Amazon 'Lord of the Rings' Game Canceled: Why Is It Scrapped?

Amazon has failed to bring make the beloved movie series "Lord of the Rings" to a gaming franchise.

The company announced its project in 2019 until it was scrapped due to trouble with contract negotiations between Amazon and Tencent, the would-be game developers.

Amazon "Lord of the Rings" Game Canceled: Why?

According to MSN, Amazon had a deal with Leyou Technologies, a China-based game developer, in 2019. However, after Tencent bought the game studio in 2020, it led to a dispute with the project that the online game idea was ultimately canceled.

An Amazon spokesperson said that they have been unable to strike a deal with Tencent to proceed with the "Lord of the Rings" project at this time. Furthermore, there are still no plans of making a "LOTR" game in the future.

In a Variety report, Amazon has been cited to be unable to get a proper release of its game titles recently. The company has also scrapped a 2018 game title, "Breakaway,'' due to lack of progress. Another game title, "Crucible," has been canceled by the company because of poor feedback from gamers, and the company has seen no future for the game.

Besides that, there was also a game title developed by Amazon called "New World," which is a sandbox MMO where players could colonize parts of the world and develop it from the Stone Age. However, it has faced multiple production delays and is expected to release in late August of this year.

An Amazon spokesperson stated that it loves the "Lord of the Rings" franchise and is disappointed that it would not be able deliver a game to its players that are fans of the movie. The spokesperson added that people working on the "LOTR" game would be moved into another project from the company.

"Lord of the Rings" TV Continues in Amazon

Despite the cancellation, according to Variety, Amazon is also making a "Lord of the Rings" TV adaptation with the help of multiple TV production studios like Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins, and Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema.

USA Today reported that Amazon will spend $465 million in the first season of the show, which is a vast amount of money. By comparison, HBO had a $100 million per season budget for "Game of Thrones." This TV adaptation of the beloved J.R.R Tolkein book is the biggest production in the franchise yet.

According to IBT, the upcoming TV series would be a story before the "LOTR" and "The Hobbit." The adaptation is said to take viewers back to a time where great powers were forged, Kingdoms were built and laid to ruin, heroes were faced with struggles and the greatest villain that Tolkein has created by his mighty pen.

Amazon is currently working on the "Lord of the Rings" TV series, and it will probably be on Amazon Prime by late 2021. The cast is composed of Robert Aramayo, Nazinin Boniandi, Joseph Mawle, Owain Arthur, Ismael Cruz Cordova, and more, with showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay. The company is expecting to shoot five seasons in New Zealand and could also create a spinoff series.