EA has announced Lord of the Rings characters into Elden Ring and other games with character creation or customization options.
Perhaps the most well-known and best-selling contemporary Lord of the Rings gaming endeavor would be the Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War duo of games. Taking place after the events of The Hobbit but before the Lord of the Rings trilogy, these two games took on a decidedly action-adventure approach, taking heavy cues from other popular releases such as the Batman: Arkham games, particularly when it came to traversal and combat, favoring fast-paced gameplay and traditional open-world elements. It could be argued that the games' Nemesis system offered a few light RPG mechanics, as players could choose to either decimate the orc forces or bring them to the side of righteousness. These games have been well-received for the most part, and a LOTR: Gollum game is in development, but many fans want something more from this IP in gaming.
Those longing players may find what they're looking for in The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, an mobile game being developed by EA and Middle-Earth Enterprises. Although very little has been revealed about the game at the time of writing, IGN reports that the game will be based upon the J.R.R. Tolkien books rather than taking inspiration from the films, as noted by Fredrica Drotos of Middle-Earth Enterprises. Heroes of Middle-earth is currently being described as a free-to-play RPG with turn-based combat, several playable characters, and "immersive storytelling."
Tabletop RPGs like The One Ring have served LOTR role-playing fun, but this game seems to hope for something a bit more ambitious. The lands of Middle-earth are rich with lore and secrets to uncover, so a modern role-playing game in this setting will simply make sense to a lot of fans.
Despite this, there are elements of The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth that may raise alarms for some gamers. The free-to-play mobile game space is one that essentially runs off microtransactions, and EA has previously been accused of being aggressive with in-game purchases. Moreover, the fact that this is a mobile game at all will surely disappoint some, as a console or PC Lord of the Rings RPG arguably holds a lot more potential. Much remains to be seen of The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, so judgment will have to wait for now.
Source: IGN
