Summary
It looks likeAmazonis gearing up to formally reveal its upcomingTomb RaiderandLord of the Ringsgames in the near future, judging from recent statements made by an executive at the company. Though the tech giant’s game publishing arm has released a handful of titles over the last few years, it still has yet to make a name for itself in the highly-competitive landscape of the gaming industry. Fortunately, though, gamers might finally get to see the fruits ofAmazon’s AAA game initiative sooner rather than later with the reveal of these two major projects.
In December 2022, Amazon surprisedTomb Raiderfans by announcing that it would be partnering up with Crystal Dynamics and IP holder Embracer Group to publish the next mainline installment in the popular action-adventure franchise. It turns out that wasn’t the only deal that Amazon had struck with the embattled Swedish holding company, however, as the tech conglomerate later revealed that it was working on anew AAALord of the RingsMMOin collaboration with Embracer Group’s Middle-earth Enterprises. These two projects were announced with little-to-no details, but they at least signified Amazon’s intent to take its AAA publishing arm to greater heights, despite the company’s past efforts being rather mixed in terms of success.
Although neither theTomb Raidernor theLord of the Ringsgames have received substantial updates from their respective developers over the last year or so, reveals for both titles are “not too far away.” That’s according to Amazon Games vice president Christoph Hartmann, who recentlyheld an interview with Varietyto discuss the future of the tech conglomerate’s foray into the game publishing business. The executive stated that, although fans won’t get any news on theLotRMMO and theAmazon-publishedTomb Raidergame"tomorrow," they can expect to hear more about them soon, as the company is allegedly “getting into a much more regular cadence of shipping games.”
Amazon Wants To Ensure Its Tomb Raider and Lord of the Rings Games Are High-Quality
Hartmann later stated that he doesn’t have much more to share about these upcoming titles, though he did add that Amazon wants to ensure that both games are critically well-received. “It’s all about quality. You don’t want to just be rushed out. That doesn’t work. It has to be Triple-A quality, because the bar is so high.” Indeed, titles likethe upcomingTomb Raidergame need to come out swingingin order for Amazon to establish itself as “one of the best publishers out there,” like Hartmann hopes the company will eventually become.
Based off of Hartmann’s statements, it seems possible, if not likely, that the untitledLord of the RingsMMO and the newTomb Raidergame will be unveiled later this year, perhaps at The Game Awards 2024. WithThe Rings of PowerSeason 2 and theTomb RaiderTV serieson the way,Amazoncould even capitalize on the potential success of the shows to make the reveals of its upcoming games more impactful.
