Everything Games & More

New World developer Amazon Games has partnered with Embracer Group’s Middle-earth Enterprises to create a brand new MMO based on The Lord of the Rings.

The massively multiplayer online game, which is completely separate from 2007’s The Lord of the Rings Online and from Amazon’s previously cancelled Lord of the Rings MMO, is currently in the early stages of development and as of yet has no official title.

Amazon Games Orange County, the team behind New World, is leading development on the new MMO, which will come to PC and consoles. No release window was given, though Amazon Games did say it would feature the stories of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings book trilogy.

The last four years have been a long road for Christoph Hartmann. Since becoming Amazon Games CEO in late 2018, he has been witness to cancellations, layoffs, and rumors of internal clashes. In late 2021, the publisher was forced to cancel its Lord of the Rings MMO due to rights issues with Tencent.

Fast-forward to 2023, and Amazon Games mostly seems to be on the upswing. Lost Ark enjoyed a successful launch in 2022, a new Tomb Raider game is in development, and Amazon Games has struck publishing deals with numerous developers based primarily in Asia.

Players have taken to social media to showcase the weird and horrifying ways they are tormenting Koroks in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The latest instalment in The Legend of Zelda franchise brought with it a range of exciting new abilities including Ultrahand, the godlike power that allows players to build all manner of creations.

No doubt Eiji Aonuma felt a sense of excited optimism when directing his team to implement the new gameplay mechanics. After all, Breath of the Wild had shown that the Zelda community was incredibly inventive when it came to bending the game to their will.

Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been approved by the European Commission. The approval brings Microsoft’s historic deal one step closer to completion.

The European Commission announced on its website that it has approved the proposed acquisition under the EU Merger Regulation.

The EC reached similar conclusions as the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) — that the deal would not harm the console market but could harm cloud gaming — but was satisfied with Microsoft’s proposed remedies for these concerns.

Improving the cloud gaming market.

Lilith, the daughter of hatred, takes center stage in Diablo 4. As mentioned in Diablo 3 through scattered documents found around the High Heavens, she has returned to Sanctuary to establish herself as the mother of all creation. Players were given a glimpse into her overwhelming presence in Sanctuary through the Diablo 4 open beta period and stress test, with several cutscenes illustrating how her presence has affected the world at large.

Sean Copeland, Senior Manager of Lore at Blizzard, took the opportunity to sit down with us at IGN to elaborate on what makes Lilith such a compelling antagonist for Diablo 4, and what her reappearance in Sanctuary means for the world of Diablo.