‘Lord of the Rings’ now a video game

PARIS

U.S. tech giant Amazon has announced it is developing an open-world style video game based on the classic “Lord of the Rings” saga.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories of mythical creatures struggling with the mystical power of the rings have become a staple on the video game scene, most famously the tie-ins with Peter Jackson’s epic film trilogy in the early 2000s.

Amazon Games said on Monday it was working on a massively multiplayer online game (MMO), where players can roam around virtual worlds and create their own adventures.

The Jeff Bezos-owned behemoth has spent years carving out a space in the video game market with its own studio, a cloud gaming service called Luna and the gaming-focused streaming platform Twitch.

“Bringing players a fresh take on The Lord of the Rings has long been an aspiration for our team,” said Christoph Hartmann, vice president of Amazon Games.

He said Amazon was working with Embracer Group, a holding company that owns the rights to video game versions of Tolkien’s stories, to develop the game.

“We’re taking every care to deliver an MMO which will do justice to the expansive Middle-earth universe and delight players around the world,” said Lee Guinchard of Freemode, part of the Embracer Group.

Amazon did not confirm specifics of the game - there is not yet a title or a release date.

Amazon’s TV offshoot, Amazon Prime Video, is also deeply invested in Tolkien’s world,- spending more than $1 billion on its adaption of the Lord of the Rings.

The U.S. firm has already developed successful open-world games, it launched “New World” in 2021 to generally positive reviews.