After New World: Aeternum already fell victim to Amazon’s recent cutbacks, it looks like the in-development MMORPG based on The Lord of the Rings is next on the chopping block. According to Rock Paper Shotgun, a LinkedIn post by former senior gameplay engineer at Amazon Games, Ashleigh Amrine, indicates that the project is being cancelled while it was still in development.
“This morning I was part of the layoffs at Amazon Games, alongside my incredibly talented peers on New World and our fledgling Lord of the Rings game (y’all would have loved it),” wrote Amrine in the since-deleted post. Amazon has yet to make any definitive statement about the fate of the project.
An MMORPG based on The Lord of the Rings was first announced all the way back in May 2023, and was being developed by the team behind New World. The title was slated to be part of a licensing agreement that was signed between Amazon Games and Middle-earth Enterprises, which in turn is owned by Embracer Group.
Few details about the project had been confirmed, aside from the fact that it would feature the stories of the four core books from The Lord of the Rings – The Hobbit, Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. The title was also slated to feature a persistent world where players could explore Middle-earth to quite an extent.
The cancellation of the project likely stems from the fact that Amazon is laying off more than 14,000 of its employees across various divisions, including its gaming studios. In an internal memo, the company said that its plans for game development going forward will revolve around “casual and AI-focused games”. It had also noted that development on the Tomb Raider title by Crystal Dynamics is also continuing.
Alongside the employees affected by the lay-offs, one of the bigger casualties of this has been Amazon Game Studios’ announcement that New World: Aeternum will no longer be getting any more content. The recently-released Season 10 and Nighthaven will serve as the final bit of content made for the MMORPG, and the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion has also been made free to PC players.
“As New World recognizes its fourth anniversary since launching on PC, we reflect on an incredible journey shaped by our dedicated player community,” wrote Amazon Game Studios in its announcement. “Your feedback and passion have been instrumental in evolving Aeternum into the world it is today, and our team is deeply grateful for this shared adventure. After four years of steady content updates and a major new console release, we’ve reached a point where it is no longer sustainable to continue supporting the game with new content updates.”
While there might not be any more content coming to New World: Aeternum, the studio has made assurances that the servers for the MMORPG will remain live until the end of 2026. Any changes to these plans are also slated to be announced with at least six months of notice provided to players.
