(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. has scooped up another piece of entertainment based on “The Lord of the Rings.”
The company will co-produce a video game based on the popular fantasy series with Leyou Technologies Holdings Ltd. The Hong Kong-based game developer had announced plans for the free-to-play, online multiplayer game last year, and said on Wednesday that Amazon was joining the effort. Leyou will handle marketing and operations for the game in China and Taiwan, and Amazon will do those tasks for the rest of the world, the company said in astatement.
Amazon Studios is separately working on a television series based on J.R.R. Tolkien's work, an effort to create a blockbuster that boosts interest in the $119-a-year Prime membership that unlocks access to Amazon's original streaming content. Amazon has not set a release date.
Amazon's plans for its video game business are less clear. After hiring industry veterans to help build a gaming division and touting some ambitious titles, the company last month laid off dozens of employees, according to the Kotaku gaming site.
To contact the reporter on this story: Matt Day in Seattle at mday63@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Robin Ajello, Molly Schuetz
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