Lord of the Rings Online developer reassures fans that the MMO is "not going away"

The developer of Lord of the Rings Online has reassured fans that the 16-year-old game is "not going away", despite Amazon's Lord of the Rings MMO announcement. 

Lord of the Rings Online developer Standing Stone, alongside Lord of the Rings rights holder Middle-Earth Enterprises, has released a statement on the game's forum reassuring fans that its MMO is "not going anywhere", regardless of Amazon's recent announcement. In case you missed it, earlier this week Amazon Games revealed it is developing a new Lord of the Rings MMO game. 

In the statement, the two companies wrote: "During the past few days, we've received a number of notes from excited and concerned community members about a new MMO coming to the Tolkien-verse from Amazon Games." The statement continues: "Some folks have asked what this means for LOTRO. We wanted to give everyone in the community an update and assure you all that LOTRO is not going away!"

"Like you, we, and our partners at Middle-earth Enterprises are huge fans of LOTRO. It is beloved, it is sixteen, it is evergreen." The statement ends: "LOTRO is like the long-lived Ents, Elves and Dwarves; and we mere mortals, are the stewards of LOTRO and its community. Standing Stone has every intention of growing and supporting this community. The road goes ever on…" 

Following Amazon's announcement, the vice president of Amazon Games, Christoph Hartmann, discussed the concerns around having two Lord of the Rings MMOs - explaining that the two games will be "worlds apart." Hartmann also explained to fans that the two games can "co-exist" since "the industry moves on," and both titles will be very different in terms of technology - what with the older of the two releasing in 2007. 

Even before the official statement, it seemed like Lord of the Rings Online fans aren't scared of Amazon's new LOTR MMO.