If you’re a fan of the Lord of the Rings franchise, and want a new game set in Middle-Earth, you may be happy to know that publisher Athlon Games is now developing a new game set in Middle Earth. The publisher announced that they have signed a licensing agreement with Middle-earth Enterprises to make a new game based on the beloved franchise.

The developers are currently working on an MMO game for both the PC and consoles, and they decided to do so, of course, because of fans’ “resurgent” interest in the IP, most likely referring to Monolith’s Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War titles. The upcoming Amazon TV series on The Lord of the Rings, I would presume, also has to be a factor. Of course, it’s likely that anything related to the Lord of the Rings will garner quite a lot of attention regardless.

Regarding the game, Dave Miller, president of Athlon stated, “It’s a singular opportunity to work closely with Middle-earth Enterprises to create a completely new experience for fans of the landmark fantasy work of J.R.R. Tolkien, and we are excited about the resurgence of interest in The Lord of the Rings IP. This, along with several other major properties Athlon is working with, will help us to further our goal of creating AAA cooperative console and PC experiences that gamers will want to play for years to come.”

At this point, we don’t know exactly whether the game will be released for the PS4 and Xbox One, or whether it will be coming for nextgen consoles- or maybe even both! Anyway, this is certainly exciting news, and we’ll hopefully get to hear more soon enough.

The newest trailer, therefore, only makes me happy. The cinematic trailer sets up the tragic story of the Ranger of the Black Gate of Mordor, who was killed, and then resurrected and sent back to Mordor for a misguided quest for vengeance. The trailer expounds on his existence as neither dead nor alive, and his enslavement to Sauron and the dark forces.

If you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings universe, Shadows of Mordor looks great. Even if you are not, it looks like a hell of an action game. We may learn more about it at E3 next week, so stay tuned to GamingBolt.

It is reported that Bioware’s mammoth MMO costed approx. $200 million and 800 people from over four continents toiled on it.

It’s also mentioned in a LA Times report that “the story runs 1,600 hours, with hundreds of additional hours still being written. Nearly 1,000 actors have recorded dialogue for 4,000 characters in three languages.”

What caught our eye was that, Bioware had initially planned to make a Marvel Comics MMO, but ended but doing a Star Wars one, and it looks like that went well.

“The idea for the [The Old Repubic] has its origins at a 2005 meeting between [BioWare producer Rich] Vogel and BioWare’s Zeschuk and Muzyka, two Canadian physicians-turned-game developers.

“After attempts to adapt “Lord of the Rings,” “A Game of Thrones” and Marvel comic book super-heroes like such as Spider-Man, the team signed a co-publishing deal with “Star Wars” creator George Lucas.”

If EA wants to recoup its investment, it’s going to be a tough task. They need at least 1 million people to buy the game and play for a year. It’s certainly an ambitious project by EA, and critically it has been well received as well.

But the rewards are plenty if EA manages to get to that stage, which WoW has demonstrated with almost $3 billion in profit over 7 years for Blizzard.

“There’s no other opportunity to make money like this in the entertainment industry because people keep paying to play continuously,” said Bruce Hack, a former chief executive of Vivendi Games.

This is the main reason why EA spent so much on this project, because if SWTOR becomes really successful, $200 million will seem like a really tiny amount in retrospect.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that their next The Lord of the Rings project, being developed by Turbine, Codemasters, is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) and is called The Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard. With enhancements to monster play, an increased level cap, the legendary region of Isengard open to exploration and much more, Rise of Isengard will be available for purchase in the LOTRO Store in the Fall of 2011.

Kate Paiz, Executive Producer of Lord of the Rings online, says, “2010 has been a year of unprecedented growth for The Lord of the Rings Online with our successful introduction of a free-to-play option for our players. This is going to be another outstanding year for the game as we progress on our journey toward Mordor and it all begins with our upcoming November update. The journey will carry through 2011 ending with our arrival in the epic region of Isengard where players will confront the raging war and shadow that has spread across Middle-earth.”

Here are some new features that will be featured in Rise of Isengard:

– Experience the Rise of Isengard – The Epic Story continues as the Grey Company makes its way south into Dunland, but troubles arise as their road takes them into lands where Dunlending forces, marshaled by the Wizard Saruman, prepare for war. The Rangers must seek new allies and face dangerous new foes, chief among them the traitor Saruman, whose web of intrigue threatens to endanger your quest, your friends, and your life.

– Increased Level Cap — Players will be able advance their characters up to level 70, gaining access to new traits, virtues, skills and class quests.

– Expanded Monster Play – LOTRO’s monster play system will get a major revamp including opening up the feature to all players, changes to monster player skills and advancement and a brand new region for players to battle for or against the forces of evil.

Warner Bros describes Lord of the Rings Online as follows: “LOTRO is the ultimate adventure. This award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most famous fantasy of all time. From the picturesque surroundings of the Shire to Moria, the most fearsome underground realm ever imagined, players can experience the world of Middle-earth for free!”

We will have more info for you soon, stay tuned.

David Solari, Vice President and General Manager of Codemasters Online said “Having successfully taken two titles free-to-play in the past we are very pleased to be doing the same with The Lord of the Rings Online in Europe.”

“It’s a fantastic, award-winning game with a wonderfully realized world and this step will only broaden its appeal and increase its player base,’ he added.

Players interested should check out the beta by the 16th of June. Those who haven’t signed up can do so here, at the official site.