After more than a decade of absence from the LOTR franchise, Electronic Arts has finally announced their return with the development of a brand new Tolkien-inspired mobile game called Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth. 

While  EA has kept the release date under wraps they have confirmed that LOTR: Heroes of Middle-Earth will get a limited regional beta test sometime this summer. 

In EA’s recent press release, it’s mentioned that LOTR: Heroes of Middle-Earth will be a free-to-play, Collectible Role-Playing Game made for the mobile platform. The game will offer a strategic, social-competitive experience set in the fantasy lands of Tolkien’s LOTR and The Hobbit. 

In such collectible RPGs, players have to build up their roster of characters to use them in battle, much like Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.

As for the graphics, Malachi Boyle, the Vice President of Mobile RPG for Electronic Arts, said that LOTR: Heroes of Middle-Earth will have a combination of high-fidelity graphics, cinematic animations, and stylized art that immerses players in the fantasy of Middle-earth. This level of visual quality is, of course, expected, considering that this is a 2022 title from EA featuring the LOTR franchise.

Apart from the visuals, it seems like the development team is planning to stay true to the books as much as possible to create their lore-heavy game world.  

“We are incredibly excited to partner with The Saul Zaentz Company and Middle-earth Enterprises on the next generation of mobile role-playing games. The team is filled with fans of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and each day they bring their tremendous passion and talents together to deliver an authentic experience for players.”

The Development & Partnership

Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth is currently being developed by EA’s Capital Games in partnership with the Middle-Earth Enterprise, formerly known as Tolkien Enterprises, a division of The Saul Zaentz Company. 

If you didn’t know, the Middle-Earth Enterprise holds the exclusive rights to the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, including the famous The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Keep in mind that EA has only acquired rights for the original source material, which are the Tolkien books, not the movies. So you might see some differences in character designs and world-building as the movies were not exactly 100% faithful to the books.

As for Capital Games, they are known for developing Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, a mobile collectible RPG, the same genre as LOTR:  Heroes of Middle-Earth. So, if you are not familiar with the collectible RPG genre, you can check out SW: Galaxy of Heroes.

EA has previously worked with The Saul Zaentz Company back in the 2000s to create LOTR games for consoles and PC. And now, in light of this reunion, Fredrica Drotos, Chief Brand & Licensing Officer for SZC’s Middle-earth Enterprises, said 

“We are thrilled to be working with EA once again, this time to bring a mobile game solely inspired by Middle-earth as described in the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien to its fans. It’s an honor to work with the talented Capital Games team whose knowledge and love of the lore is palpable throughout.”

Here is a list to rekindle your childhood memories of the classic LOTR games.

• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers- 2002
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King- 2003
• LOTR: The Battle for Middle-Earth- 2004
• LOTR:: The Third Age- 2004
• LOTR: Tactics- 2005
• LOTR: The Battle for Middle-earth II- 2006
• LOTR: The Battle for Middle-earth II: The Rise of the Witch-King- 2006
• LOTR: Online 2007
• LOTR: Conquest- 2009

As you can probably tell by the game names and release date, most of these games came out just after the movies, following the hype train. Not only did they feature the movie characters but also a few iconic scenes and battles.

That’s all about EA’s announcement of Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth; you check out more Lord of The Rings content on our site.