The last time we reported on the new big-budget MMO set in the wider The Lord of the Rings universe it was 2018 -- and a lot has happened since then. Namely the developer Athlon Games was acquired by Tencent and a deal couldn’t be made for work on the game to continue. The game would have been released under the Amazon Game Studios banner, which to date hasn’t really -- you know -- released anything of note since its inception back in 2014.

That said Amazon has another MMO project on track for release this August called New World. But, this Lord of the Rings project in particular sounded pretty interesting and would have lined up with Amazon’s big-budget TV series, also based on Tolkien’s books. The setting would of course have been Middle-earth, but “a time long before the events of The Lord of the Rings, exploring lands, people and creatures never seen before by fans of the Tolkien universe."

“We have been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time,” Amazon said in a statement made to Bloomberg. “We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers.”

With Amazon investing hundreds of millions into the Lord of the Rings TV project - even if this game is cancelled, another tie in would make sense. Jus’ sayin.