LOTRO: A Golden Opportunity
Back in Summer 2019, Amazon Game Studios announced it was co-developing a new free-to-play MMO set in Middle-earth, along with Athlon Games. The latter was at the time a subsidiary of Chinese publisher Leyou Technologies. However, in December 2020, Tencent bought Leyou Technologies which led to a series of contract renegotiations and reviews of ongoing projects. According to Bloomberg these negotiations did not go well and as a result, the new MMO has been cancelled. A spokesperson for Amazon recently stated that “we have been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time. We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won't be bringing this game to customers”. Hence, Amazon will not have a complimentary game for their upcoming $1bn Lord of the Rings television series. At this point, possibly the only people who are happy with this outcome are Standing Stone Games, the developers of The Lord of the Rings Online.
LOTRO still exists today, 14 years after its launch, for several reasons but a major factor is that it is the only Tolkien based MMO in existence at present. Players endure the game’s numerous rough edges and age because of their dedication as fans and the simple fact that there's nowhere else to go. I, as well as many other LOTRO players, were curious to see what sort of game Amazon Game Studios could produce. If it had provided certain key elements of game play, along with a good artistic interpretation of Middle-earth, then I would have definitely considered playing it. But that is no longer an option. LOTRO remains the only MMO of its kind for the present and as a result I’m sure the current player base will remain loyal. However, I don’t think that SSG should be too complacent. The current situation is a bit like living in a small town which only has one mall to hang out at and one night club to go to. No matter how poor or inadequate they are, they'll get a degree of patronage purely by default. Hardly an edifying business model.
If you’re familiar with my gaming history, you’ll know I enjoy LOTRO but I clearly recognise it is far from perfect. It's age is one reason as the game was conceived and designed to serve the needs of the MMO genre of 2007. Over the years it has been revised and augmented. It has reached a point in its life cycle where it has an established player base and sufficient revenue to continue producing content. However, possibly due to staff changes and a reticence to tinker with fundamental aspects of the game, we have reached a point where nothing radically new is being added to LOTRO. To invoke a food based analogy, if the MMO genre is comparable to the fast food industry, then LOTRO is a sandwich shop. Its sandwiches are different to its competitors but beyond that, all it can offer its customers are different fillings. If you want a tea cake, forget it.
With the immediate competition out of the picture for the present and new owners EG7 genuinely interested in developing and supporting LOTRO, SSG appear to have a golden opportunity to refine and improve LOTRO. By developing some of the features that have been put on hold over the years and removing those that have proven unpopular, arcane and unwieldy, much could be done to increase the game’s longevity. Furthermore, a renaissance in their communication strategy could be instrumental in rebuilding community bridges and getting the player base onboard with a long term plan. Yet my past experiences with LOTRO leads me to believe that such an opportunity is likely to be squandered. I have seen no evidence thus far that SSG have a plan and even if they do, their continuing Johnny Tightlips routine is counterproductive. If Amazon’s new MMO hadn’t been cancelled, I wonder if things would be any different?
