Middle Earth Online: Turbine Takes Over Licensing

Admin

Turbine Entertainment announced today that they have acquired the licensing rights for all MMO gaming based on J.R.R. Tolkien works.  Their official press release is below:

WESTWOOD, Mass. – March 22, 2005 – Turbine, Inc., a leading publisher of online subscription entertainment, announced today that it has finalized a deal with Tolkien Enterprises and Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games) that grants Turbine the exclusive right to develop and publish massively multiplayer online worlds based on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit literary works. As part of the agreement, Turbine will own all of the game assets to the upcoming, highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) The Lord of the Rings™: Middle-Earth™ Online. All publishing responsibilities previously assumed by VU Games for the online license have been transitioned to Turbine effective immediately. “As the exclusive publisher, Turbine looks forward to bringing J.R.R. Tolkien’s vibrant worlds to online gamers around the globe,” said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO, Turbine, Inc. “Turbine has been instrumental in the direction and production of Middle-Earth Online, its service and the community since day one. Together with Tolkien Enterprises, we intend to produce the best possible representation of these outstanding literary works and ensure a long and exciting future for Middle-Earth Online.” Acquiring the license to produce massively multiplayer online games based on Tolkien’s world-renowned The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit books is the latest in a series of aggressive business moves by Turbine – the once small contractor that transformed itself into the largest privately-held online game studio in North America. Turbine now directly owns or holds significant interest in each of the games and services that it produces. The company purchased the Asheron’s Call® franchise from Microsoft in early 2004 and is building out the first and only MMORPG based on the iconic fantasy franchise Dungeons & Dragons®, which Turbine is self-funding. “We are pleased to be working with Turbine,” said Albert M. Bendich, Executive Vice President of The Saul Zaentz Company, which does business as Tolkien Enterprises. “We are confident that, under Turbine’s development, Middle-Earth Online will faithfully bring-to-life the realms of Middle-earth for Tolkien fans everywhere to explore and enjoy.” With their new relationship, Turbine and Tolkien Enterprises are committed to doing what's best for Middle-Earth Online and the community (www.middle-earthonline.com), which has already swelled to about 100,000 registered fans. As a result of this commitment, Turbine’s production team is considering changes to make the game even better than before. Turbine will launch Middle-Earth Online in 2006. Specific details and dates regarding the game’s development will be announced in the near future. Turbine also is currently in negotiations with a few key strategic partners for a worldwide launch, including China, Japan, Korea, Europe and the U.S.

Desalus

YAY! This is truly great news...

"How will Middle-Earth Online (MEO) benefit from Turbine acquiring the game and the MMORPG rights?
Now that Turbine can work directly with Tolkien Enterprises, we will have more flexibility in the game design and can incorporate feedback relating to the representation of the Tolkien literary works in a more real-time basis. Both Tolkien Enterprises and Turbine are committed to making MEO an engaging, immersive, and truly representative re-creation of Middle-earth." -FAQ, middle-earthonline.com

d33dave

hmmm it seems once a year we get an update about MEO that puts it back another year. my money is on 2010 before we see anything.

Stormsender

Yeah been watching this one for quite a while. I am thinking Turbine wanted to get VU out of the way before finishing this. Cutting out the middle man. In my opinion theres been a huge loss in revenue, because the farther away we get from the release of the last motion picture films the more it effects initial sales. Best thing would have been to release around the same time the last film had been released (strike while the iron was hot). Good thing is, I think there will be plenty of fans left to make this a success.

Noubourne

I have yet to see anything I enjoyed from Turbine. I can't say I'm pleased to see them taking over BOTH D&D and MEO. Those were the two next MMOs I was really excited about. Having them developed by the same company sucks. I want more diversity and more choice.

They might be good, but I'd have more hope if they weren't both under the same roof. You could probably BUILD a company based off the success of either of these games. Seeing an already huge one envelop both of these titles is not exactly something to cheer about in my book.

mamutas

Now would be the worst time to release. It will be hard to steal the players from the monsters that are out now (WoW and EQ2). But let the time pass and in a year or so, people will get bored with them. And where do you think they would go? Right. MEO.

So, Turbine is doing the right business IMHO.

Elnator

---

Originally posted by mamutas
Now would be the worst time to release. It will be hard to steal the players from the monsters that are out now (WoW and EQ2). But let the time pass and in a year or so, people will get bored with them. And where do you think they would go? Right. MEO.
So, Turbine is doing the right business IMHO.

---

It won't matter when they release this. Middle Earth Online is going to draw HUGE numbers no matter WHEN it releases. Just because it's Middle Earth. Much like SWG didn't matter when it released because it's Star Wars. Just like Matrix will do well regardless because it's based on that lame movie that so many people liked (I personally hated it but lots and lots of people enjoyed it).

And, it's already percieved as Vaporware. The sooner they finish this and release it the better.