Middle-earth is expanding even more as five new Lord of the Rings games have been confirmed to be coming within the next two years, four of which have already been announced with one title remaining a mystery.
When the Swedish gaming conglomerate company known as Embracer Group bought the rights to the Middle-earth Enterprises last year, they acquired the sole rights to everything associated with the original Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit books. Embracer Group now has the full movie, game, board game, merch, theatre production and theme park rights to anything associated with the core four novels written by J. R. R. Tolkien.
The five new Middle-earth games currently under development are all being managed by external partners, however, Embracer Group will be receiving royalties for all five projects, as stated in their most recent financial report. The new report confirms that the five titles are currently set to release within a 24-month timeframe, ranging from console to mobile, there will definitely be at least one title for Middle-earth fans to enjoy no matter their preference.
What New LOTR Games Are Being Developed?
Only one out of the five Lord of the Rings games currently remains a mystery, however, four we can tell you about as they have been announced for some time now.
The first will be The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which was originally meant to release in September of 2022 before being delayed by Deadalic Entertainment to a spring or summer 2023 timeframe. The game will let you traverse the world of Middle-earth as Gollum, giving you a better insight as to what Gollum would have been getting up to before meeting Frodo and Sam. Playing as Gollum has been announced to require plenty of stealth, as you will be moving around the dangerous routes of Mordor post-losing the ring to Bilbo Baggins.
The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth will be another title among the five, a mobile game being developed under the wing of EA which has been confirmed to be a collectible RPG.
There is also The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, which will let you play as Middle-earth Dwarves that attempt to return to their once glorious home of Moria located within the iconic Misty Mountains, developed by Free Range Games, the game has been confirmed to be a survival crafting game for Windows.
Weta Workshop are also currently working on an Untitled Game which has been widely speculated to be one of the next games set in Middle-earth, as Weta are most famously known for their work behind the LOTR and Hobbit movies, plus their VFX and practical effects work on various projects from Avatar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
However, the fifth Lord of the Rings game remains a complete mystery for the time being, with the financial report from Embracer Group stating a two-year window for the five projects, it could be possible that an announcement will be made sometime this year.
Source: Embracer Group Interim Report
