Lord of the Rings Games: From Glory to Flop – Is a Comeback on the Way?

by Falagar / Editorials, Articles / 03 Jun 2025

For years, if you wanted to sword-dive Middle-earth on your PC or console, you were inundated with choices. We charged with the Rohirrim, built great castles, and even just wandered the Shire in Lord of the Rings Online, as if we truly were there. But lately? It has seemed like the digital well of Middle-earth has run a bit low. Why? Where are the decent Lord of the Rings games, and more to the point, is there a Fellowship in the works to bring them back?

Take yourself back to the early 2000s. EA, with the Peter Jackson movie franchise license at their disposal, wasn’t just putting out tie-ins; they were producing bangers. Two Towers and Return of the King were more than hack-and-slash – they were visceral, satisfying action RPGs that let you be the heroes of the films. And then Battle for Middle-earth I & II. Oh, Battle for Middle-earth… For many, these RTS titans remain the pinnacle of marching great armies of Orcs, Elves, and Men. Building Isengard stone by stone, unleashing a Balrog… pure, unadulterated gaming bliss. That these are now abandonware, overlooked in licensing limbo but saved by dedicated modders, speaks volumes for their enduring greatness…

The MMO Endures and a Shift in Licensing

Even aside from the movie hype, Lord of the Rings Online carved out its own incredible niche. Releasing in 2007 & continuing strong to this day; it gave users a direct line to Tolkien’s books, a sprawling, meticulously crafted MMO that enabled users to become immersed in the world. It was as though Middle-earth were a virtual playground with space for truly original experiences.

Then the movie license transferred to Warner Bros. in 2009. We had some quality efforts such as the co-op fun of War in the North, but the Midas touch started to shine slightly less bright. Until, at least, Monolith Productions released Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor in 2014. That Nemesis System?? Genius. Pure, unadulterated genius. Building Orcs that remembered you, loathed you, and ascended the ranks was a revolutionary gust of fresh air. Its sequel, Shadow of War, did likewise, but each of the two games, as much as they were fun to play, took a few liberties with Tolkien’s foundational books to make lore purists wrinkle their noses (or ten). Sultry sorceress Shelob, anyone? Despite that, they were good games.

The Low Point: A Gollum Catastrophe

After Shadow of War, though, the AAA Middle-earth releases began trickling in, largely being displaced by mobile games. And then 2023 came along. And then Gollum came along. Let’s not kid ourselves: The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was a complete catastrophe!! A buggy, clunky, visually underwhelming mess that seemed like it was something out of two console generations behind. It wasn’t a bad game; it was an insult to the brand; a reminder of how far things had fallen. It was the Moria of game releases – dark, somber, and you really didn’t want to go there.

A New Hope: Embracer Group Steps In

So that’s it then? To be mired in playing our ancient favorites & wistfully looking back on the good old days? Not just yet. A new player is on the horizon in the East… or Sweden, anyway. In 2022, Embracer Group acquired Middle-earth Enterprises, uniting a colossal chunk of the rights to Tolkien’s works. This could be gigantic. With more centralized power, the hope is for a more unified, more ambitious, and perhaps even more lore-respectful direction for games in the future.

Early Signs and Eager Anticipation

And we’re already getting the first fruits of this new age… Late 2023/early 2024 brought us The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, a survival-crafting game where you lead Dwarves back into their ancient, monster-infested halls. Not a world-beater, maybe, but something different, an intimation of a willingness to experiment with alternative genres within the IP.

The hype, however, is really building for what’s still to come. Amazon Games, despite a previous cancelled attempt, is forging ahead with a new Lord of the Rings MMO. Given their colossal investment in The Rings of Power series -> you’d expect them to go big. The potential for a truly modern, massive and faithful Middle-earth online world is enough to get any fan’s Lembas bread rising!! And then there’s the one that has us most excited -> Weta Workshop : the masters behind the films’ awe-inspiring practical effects, are partnering with Private Division to create a Middle-earth game of their own… Weta is Tolkien through and through. They have a sense of the look, the lore, the atmosphere of Middle-earth that’s second to none. One’s imagination runs wild at what they could possibly do with direct creative control of a game.

The Future of Digital Middle-earth

The road for Lord of the Rings games has been a long and winding one -> with triumphant highs and some truly cavernous lows. High audience expectations, intricate licensing, and the shadow of the films have all had a say. But with new stewardship and a slate of really fascinating projects in the works, there’s a real sense that the magic could be returning to digital Middle-earth. We’re certainly keeping our Palantírs polished and ready… The beacons of hope, it seems, are lit.

Falagar

He is the founder and editor of Magic Game World. He loved gaming from the moment he got a PlayStation 1 with Gran Turismo on his 7th birthday.
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