The Lord of the Rings has been operating in the videogame sphere for well over four decades now. This long pedigree has come with so many iterations that it's always nice to see something new. Today, EA has announced a brand new mobile Lord of the Rings project. Here's what we know so far.
New EA Lords of the Rings Mobile Game
As of right now, we actually know surprisingly little. According to IGN, EA have struck a deal with Middle-Earth Enterprises to make a brand new Lord of the Rings mobile game. They are responsible for licensing the universe to media so this deal is a pretty important one. It will be:
"solely inspired by Middle-earth as described in the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien"
It is a free-to-play RPG called The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-Earth and will feature "immersive storytelling, turn-based combat, deep collection systems, and a wide roster of characters".
Given its free-to-play nature and collectible roster, it seems likely it will have monetisation services akin to a loot box or store. This being said, that is still conjecture as of right now. It will need to make money somehow and the cheap price of entry ensures some other monetisation scheme.
What does this mean?
This partnership could spell even more collaboration for EA in the future. The last Lord of the Rings video game released by EA was The Lord of the Rings: Conquest back in 2009, though they were working on a now-cancelled RPG just two years prior called The Lord of the Rings: The White Council.
If all goes well here, there's technically a chance we could see the return of an EA led The Lord of the Rings AAA game. It's about time we see a large budget grand RPG set in that universe. Hopefully, we'll see one soon.