Amazon Game Studios is developing a free-to-play Lord of the Rings MMORPG

No, we haven’t been brushing up on our Orcish. An MMORPG is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game, rather than an Uruk-hai delicacy made from hobbit-flesh. And Amazon is making a free-to-play one based on JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth. An MMORPG, that is. Not a hobbit-flavoured dish at all. So much for meat being back on the menu… 

Amazon Game Studios has announced it’s developing a new Lord of the Rings game. It’s a free-to-play MMO set in Middle-Earth as portrayed in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Which basically just means the game will be based on author J.R.R Tolkien’s original books, rather than the film trilogy. It seems the game is also unrelated to the upcoming (big-budget) Amazon LotR series. 

My precious MMO

The game is being developed in collaboration with Leylou Technologies and Middle-Earth Enterprises — the company that has controlled Tolkien’s intellectual properties since his death. It will launch on PC, as well as consoles, but we have no word on cross-platform compatibility yet.

 “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, the vice-president at Amazon Game Studios, in a statement. “Tolkien’s Middle-Earth is one of the richest fictional worlds in history, and it gives our team of experienced MMO developers… 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.”

The game was originally announced last year by Athlon Games, which is a Leylou subsidiary. Now the company will team up with developers that have worked on popular MMOs like Everquest, Destiny, World of Warcraft and Planetside. 

Amazon is betting quite a lot on Tolkien’s fantasy world, with its upcoming series featuring a budget of $1 billion already. Now it’s working on this MMO, that’ll hopefully hold its own against the already massively popular World of Warcraft. Come on, we can dream, can’t we? Of Ents and Entwives, of Tom Bombadil, and second breakfasts?