I was there… 3000 years ago, the last time a Lord of the Rings MMO came out. Actually, it was more like ten years ago when Lord of the Rings Online came out in 2007 and went free-to-play in 2010. The everlasting game now has new competition in the form of another Lord of the Rings free-to-play MMO from Athlon Games, owner of the Warframe series.
Athlon and Middle-earth Enterprises have teamed up for the new project, which it is billing as a “AAA experience,” buzz words that aren’t exactly in style anymore. Still, the game is bound for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC with no release date and very little other information available. All we know is that players will encounter “lands, people and creatures never seen before by fans.”
No word on who the developer even is just yet. Just expect the game to happen at some point, maybe even looking like the old-school DOS games.
Don’t get me wrong, that would be totally sweet.
There is reason to be excited even without knowing who is making the game. As far as media franchises go, and as much as it pains me to call Lord of the Rings one, Middle-earth games have been surprisingly good as of late with both Shadows of Mordor and Shadows of War churning out excellent products.
On the flip side, this might be just a quick cash grab to capitalize on Amazon’s upcoming $1 billion dollar show set in Tolkien’s beloved universe.
In the meantime, Lord of the Rings Online’s community manager has confirmed that the old MMORPG will continue to war horse on like it has for the last decade, so fans needn’t yet worry about losing their accounts and progress. Final Fantasy XI is still a thing in spite of a proper successor in Final Fantasy XIV.
