New Free-to-play Lord of the Rings MMO announced by Amazon Game Studios for consoles & PC

It’s unrelated to the upcoming TV show.

The game developers over at mega-retail giant Amazon have confirmed that they are working on an MMO for the Lord of the Rings franchise.

They have partnered with Chinese gaming holdings company Leyou, who own game developers Digital Extremes, famous for Warframe and Splash Damage, who are multiplayer experts and helped with the multiplayer of games such as Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Dirty Bomb, and Gears of War 4. Leyou had previously confirmed that they were working on an MMO with the Lord of the Rings franchise, but with this, it was revealed that Amazon will be collaborating with them on it.

The new game, which currently has no release date and no official title as of yet, will be free to play and available on PC and consoles, though which consoles were not confirmed. While Amazon is currently in production for a Lord of the Rings related television show, the game is not going to be related or in conjunction with it.

Amazon Studios has released the following statement of the game:

Set in the world of Middle-earth portrayed in The Lord of the Rings literary trilogy, the game will give fans around the globe a new, immersive game experience for epic exploration of the vast world of Tolkien. In addition to the game development collaboration, Amazon Studios is separately developing a new Amazon Original TV series based on The Lord of the Rings for Prime Video unrelated to the game.

Amazon Game Studios and Leyou will jointly develop the game for PC and consoles, and Amazon Game Studios will market and publish the title globally with the exception of China, which will be managed by Leyou. The collaboration brings together Amazon’s game technology and talented MMO developers, and Leyou’s expertise in designing free-to-play games and operating live-service games.

“We’re committed to bringing customers games of the highest quality, both with our own original IP as well as beloved cultural pillars like The Lord of the Rings,” said Christoph Hartmann, VP, Amazon Game Studios. “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. 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.”

“Bringing Middle-earth to life necessitates having the very best partners, and Amazon’s customer obsession, technology, and talented teams make it the ideal choice for a co-developer and publisher,” said Alex Xu, CEO of Leyou Technologies Holdings. “We believe our combined resources and expertise will result in a beautiful and compelling game that customers will love and play for years to come.”

“Who among us hasn’t wanted to take part in an epic adventure,” said Fredrica Drotos, Chief Brand and Licensing Officer at Middle-earth Enterprises. “More than 60 years after the publication of The Fellowship of the Ring, we’re delighted that Amazon Game Studios has partnered with Leyou to bring their respective expertise to build a much anticipated game that will immerse us in the beloved, epic world of Middle-earth, envisioned by Professor Tolkien.”

This, of course, is not the first Lord of the Rings MMO to be released with 2007’s release of LOTR Online, which at the time while not entirely on the same level as leading MMO World of Warcraft, it was a perfect alternative. It’s also the fourth game to see the main system release from Amazon Game Studios after The Grand Tour Game, and the upcoming Crucible and New World.