Five Lord of the Rings games to be released between now and 2024
Not quite a fellowship, but it's close.
Lord of the Rings fans either have plenty to look forward to or despair over in the coming months. It just depends on which end of Bilbo's hill you stand on.
According to its latest financials, Embracer Group has another game in the works set in Tolkien's universe.
The games are being developed by external partners and will release in the financial year 2023/24.
We already know about four: Daedalic's oft-delayed The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, Freerange Games' survival-crafting title The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, EA's mobile title The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth for mobile, and one from Weta Workshop.
Embracer did not provide any information on the fifth game or any word on Weta's game.
In August 2022, the company acquired Middle-earth Enterprises, encompassing a vast intellectual property catalog and worldwide rights to motion pictures, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks, and stage productions relating to the literary works The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit.
The deal also included matching rights in other Middle-earth-related literary works authorized by the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins.
This means we can expect more games, more TV shows, more movies, and everything in between. Do we need or want any more Lord of the Rings spin-offs, expansions, or distant relations? That remains to be seen. As long as those in power stay true to the source material and deviate only as presented by the actual lore, it should be okay. And, hopefully, the market won't be oversaturated to where we all end up feeling like a Nazgûl swept away by the river Bruinen.