“We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won’t be bringing this game to customers.” The new game was going to be set prior to the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and was previously described as an “AAA experience” featuring “lands, people and creatures never seen before”. Tencent is the world’s largest video game company in terms of revenue, with significant stakes in a number of western video game publishers, such as League of Legends maker Riot, Clash of Clans studio Supercell, and Fortnite developer Epic Games. It has been the subject of controversy over the years, with its influence questioned. In October 2019, Blizzard came under fire for banning and revoking the prize money of Hong Kong Hearthstone tournament winner Ng Wai Chung, aka Blitzchung, who used his post-match victory interview to issue a statement of support for Hong Kong protestors. In the face of a public backlash, Blizzard eventually partially rescinded the punishment. Tencent has a five per cent stake in Activision Blizzard.
