TheGamingEconomy’s Daily Digest brings you the trending stories in gaming. In today’s news: Cuphead to be made into Netflix show; Nintendo debuts Switch Lite; and Amazon is developing a Lord of the Rings MMO.

Cuphead to be made into Netflix show

Cuphead, the beloved indie 2D shooter from Studio MDHR, is to be made into a comedy series on Netflix. Itself based on classic 1940’s animated TV shows, Cuphead has been a huge success since its launch in 2017, having shifted over four million copies to date. The development of the TV series highlights that the opportunity to expand IP beyond games onto other giant platforms is even available to modest, albeit celebrated, teams.

While no release date has been specified for the series, titled ‘The Cuphead Show!’, Chad Moldenhauer, co-founder of Studio MDHR, gave a hint as to the style of the show, stating in an interview with IGN: “It’s safe for kids, but written so there are also things that adults find funny and appeals to a wider audience. It’s not a toddler show or a little kids cartoon. It’s safe to say that [the showrunners are] aiming for the same kind of vibe that the game hints at. They’ll be taking that idea and expanding it.”

Nintendo debuts Switch Lite

Nintendo has unveiled its latest console device, the Nintendo Switch Lite, dedicated to playing Switch games in handheld mode. Unlike the Nintendo Switch, the Lite console will not support output to a TV, making the new device a throwback to its previous GameBoy consoles.

The Switch Lite has a smaller touch screen, at 5.5 inches compared to 6.2 inches, which is non-detachable. However the device is significantly lighter than the Switch at 275g as opposed to 398g, the weight of the console with Joy-Con controllers attached.

The new device will debut on 20th September 2019, in anticipation for the upcoming Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield games, which will be released in November.

Amazon is developing a Lord of the Rings MMO

Amazon Game Studios has announced that it is developing a free-to-play MMO title based on The Lord of the Rings, in partnership with Leyou-owned publisher Athlon Games. Athlon previously announced the title last year, however at this stage Amazon’s involvement was not made public, with their work attributed to an undisclosed ‘partner developer’.

An Amazon spokesperson has stated that the development of the MMO game is an unrelated project to its upcoming television series, also set in Middle Earth, however both projects are reported to be set well before the events that transpired in J.R.R Tolkien’s novels.