News Picks/Weekly Round-up from Auryn Cox @Ciaran’s Customs

Amazon Cancels its Lord of the Rings MMO

Amazon has cancelled its Lord of the Rings MMORPG that was being developed by Amazon Game Studios.

The project was first announced back in 2019 and was being jointly developed by Amazon and the China-based Leyou Technologies Holdings Ltd., which was purchased by conglomerate Tencent Holdings Ltd. in December.

Bloomberg reported that it was the resulting contract negotiations between Tencent and Amazon which led to the games cancellation after a dispute between the two companies.

“We love the Lord of the Rings IP and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers,” a spokesperson from the Amazon Game Studios team said in a statement.

The Amazon team working on the game will now be moved on to other projects.

Amazon Games Studio has yet to launch a successful game since being founded in 2014.

Amazon has also reportedly spent £336million on the first season of a Lord of the Rings TV show which has yet to get a release date, although is expected to air later this year.

Minecraft’s Caves and Cliffs Update has been split in two

Mojang has announced that the highly anticipated Caves and Cliffs update for Minecraft has been split into two parts which will be released separately.

The first part of the update will launch sometime during the summer and will include new items, blocks and mobs.

The second part of the update will contain the new world generation features, such as the new cave systems and mountains, will be released sometime during the end of the year.

Mojang explained their reasons for splitting the update in a blog post on the Minecraft website.

“Because of the magnitude of this update and the dramatic changes it brings to the Overworld as a whole, there are also significant technical challenges we need to overcome before certain parts of the update are ready to ship,” they said in the blog post.

They also explained that they wanted to avoid the possibility of a crunch to meet the initial release date.

“Technical considerations aside, we also prioritize our team’s health. We’ve come to realize that to ship all the features in the summer we would’ve had to work very long hours; and even then, there would’ve been no guarantee that everything would be finished on time.”

Mojang also announced that the new archaeology system is being delayed beyond the holiday season as they want to spend more time to get the new system right.

The new Bioshock game in development might be open world

A new job listing seems to reveal that the next entry in the Bioshock franchise will be an open world game.

Cloud Chamber, the studio working on the next Bioshock game is currently hiring for multiple positions.

One position is for a senior writer and the ad says the studio is looking for someone “who can weave impactful, character-driven stories in an open world setting.”

2K games first announced that a new Bioshock game was in development at the end of 2019 after years of speculation and rumours.

The unnamed Bioshock 4 will be releasing on PS5, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X. It will likely be some years until fans will get a first glimpse at the fourth Bioshock game and even longer until a launch date.

Subnautica: Below Zero launching fully this May

Subnautica: Below Zero, the sequel to Unknown World Entertainments popular underwater survival game Subnautica, is getting its full version 1.0 release on 14th May.

Below Zero has been in early access for nearly two and half years on Steam but with its full release in May, will become available on the Xbox, PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch.

Subnautica: Below Zero takes place after the first game and challenges players, cast in a new role, to survive on the much colder and previously unseen part of ocean planet 4546B.

Players can expect similar, crafting, building and exploration as with the original Subnautica. The game will cost £24.99.

Chip Shortage could last until 2023

Still bad news for prospective PC builders as the CEOs of Intel and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) say that the current chip shortage may last another two years.

The TSMC’s chip production has been hampered by the US-China trade wars and droughts in Taiwan, as manufacturing chips is very water intensive. This has had a huge impact on the global supply.

With demands for computer chips soaring and manufacture being limited, Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, told the Washington Post on Tuesday that the problem is going to take “a couple of years” to subside.

About the Author

Auryn is a student journalist and an avid gamer. Follow him on his Twitter account @auryncx.

Thanks for Reading.

If you want to talk about any of the Games or Hardware news mentioned here, whether its to get upgrade advice, getting an estimate on a new build or just to ask a simple question feel free to get in touch. We are always happy to help out. You can reach us on Facebook or via email on our Contact Us page.