Lord of the Rings MMO in development at Amazon Games’ New World studio

Amazon Games and Embracer Group are joining forces for a Lord of the Rings MMO, which will be developed at the studio responsible for New World.

Amazon has already explored the world of Middle-earth with its Rings of Power TV series; a second season is expected to air sometime next year.

Now the company has its eyes cast toward telling stories in the interactive medium, specifically with internal development teams.

A newly struck deal with Embracer Group, owners of LOTR holding company Middle Earth Enterprises, will allow Amazon to do just that.

Amazon Games is working on a Lord of the Rings MMO

Thanks to an agreement with Embracer Group’s Middle Earth Enterprises, Amazon Games plans to develop and publish an ope-world MMO based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s LOTR.

The project is currently in the incipient stages of production, as developers work to build a persistent world in Middle-earth filled with “the beloved stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings literary trilogy.”

Amazon Games Orange County leads development on the game, a shrewd choice given its creation of the New World MMORPG. Details, of course, remain under lock and key, but Amazon will publish the title across PC and consoles.

Notably, this is not the first time that Embracer Group has agreed to collaborate with Amazon Games. Just last year, the two entities announced that Amazon will fully support and publish Crystal Dynamics’ next Tomb Raider game.

Such news hit the airwaves only months after Embracer Group acquired multiple assets from Square Enix. Those assets included the likes of Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and their respective development teams.

Evidently, Embracer Group is more than comfortable letting other companies expand upon its properties. It will be interesting to see how Amazon Games’ New World crew brings Middle-earth to life in an MMO.