Amazon Game Studios is teaming up with Athlon Games to co-develop and publish a free-to-play Lord of the Rings MMO for PC and console.
We first heard news of the upcoming MMO last year, however Amazon Game Studios' involvement is new, as is the revelation that the studio brings with it a team that includes veteran developers who've worked on popular MMOs such as World of Warcraft and Destiny.
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According to Amazon Game Studios, the MMO will take place in the Middle-earth portrayed in The Lord of the Rings literary trilogy. Previously the game was set to be a prequel to the well-known stories of Frodo and Bilbo Baggins, instead taking place in the deep history of Middle-earth, and conveniently avoiding any canonical issues.
“Tolkien’s Middle-earth is one of the richest fictional worlds in history, and it gives our team of experienced MMO developers – from the same studio developing New World – tremendous opportunity to play and create," said Amazon Games Studios VP, Christoph Hartmann. "We have a strong leadership team in place to helm this new project, and we’re actively growing our team to help build this incredible experience.”
The game is unrelated to the Lord of the Rings TV series Amazon Studios is developing and currently has no firm release date.
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