Back in 2019 Amazon Game Studios announced that it was collaborating with Leyou Technologies Holdings Ltd. and Middle-earth Enterprises to develop and publish a free-to-play massively multiplayer online (MMO) game based on the J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (revealed last year).

Set in the world of Middle-earth portrayed in The Lord of the Rings literary trilogy, the game will give fans around the globe a new, immersive game experience for epic exploration of the vast world of Tolkien. In addition to the game development collaboration, Amazon Studios is separately developing a new Amazon Original TV series based on The Lord of the Rings for Prime Video unrelated to the game.

The plan was for Amazon Game Studios and Leyou will jointly develop the game for PC and consoles, and Amazon Game Studios would market and publish the title globally with the exception of China, which will be managed by Leyou. The collaboration brought together Amazon’s game technology and talented MMO developers, and Leyou’s expertise in designing free-to-play games and operating live-service games.

However that plan has reportedly come crashing down when Tencent acquired The Lord of the Rings MMO co-developer Leyou Technologies in December 2020, and consequently Amazon and Tencent have not been able to come to an agreement on how to proceed, resulting in Amazon simply canceling the project.