The new AAA game The Lord of the Rings announced for PS5, Xbox Series and PC will surprise in many ways. The Vice President of Amazon Games warns about the vision of this title.
After almost 10 years of absence, the world of Middle-earth returns in full force. The universe created by JRR Tolkien is tearing itself apart, and surprisingly, a massive new Lord of the Rings game is in development at the Amazon Games premises Orange County. From the makers of the hit MMO New World. An ambitious project that respects the original material? Maybe, maybe not.
Amazon Games’ The Lord of the Rings game will take liberties
Whenever we talk about an adaptation, the question of fidelity always arises. Especially for Lord of the Rings. Because if The Lord of the Rings movies were celebrated, the Hobbit trilogy and The Rings of Power series were less so. Part of the public particularly objected to the treatment of Galadriel on the Prime Video show. But these changes compared to Tolkien’s work will take some getting used to.
Christoph Hartmann, Vice President of Amazon Games, says the upcoming game The Lord of the Rings will take liberties where necessary. And it’s a shame if one or the other environment doesn’t match the description of the books or the idea that the reader has of them.
We have die-hard Lord of the Rings fans on our team. And they’re already saying, “We can’t do that because Middle-earth Enterprises won’t let us, and we can’t change the story, introduce new characters, or rewrite the books.” But for me, it’s very important that it first a standalone game and then a second time a reflection of the books. So even if we have to be faithful, I always remind the team that it is not necessary for every single person to go and check that this or that detail is 100% correct. Take for example the way Tolkien describes the world. Maybe an environment is a bit different because we don’t achieve the same result or because the team has their own idea of a landscape, which may be different from how people imagine it.
Over GamesRadar.
A huge world like the franchise
The other surprise of this new Lord of the Rings game is the involvement of Amazon Games. Because in 2021 the company has set an MMORPG “Lord of the Rings”. Apart from that, it will also be an MMORPG for players to play in “Find the iconic stories of The Hobbit and the original Lord of the Rings trilogy”
We strive to bring quality games to our players, whether it’s through original franchises or through licenses everyone loves, like here in The Lord of the Rings. Our teams have long strived to offer players something new in the Lord of the Rings universe. We are happy and proud of the trust that Middle-earth Enterprises has placed in us. We are also pleased to extend our collaboration with Embracer Group after several months of jointly reaching an agreement on the Tomb Raider license..
Christoph Hartmann, Vice President of Amazon Games, via press release.
It’s still way too early for the release date. The press release states that this unreleased Lord of the Rings game has come out “its first stages of production”. See you in a few years…