Five Lord of the Rings games are set for the next two years, but what are they?

polygon.com:

h Embracer Group, the Swedish conglomerate that bought the adaptation rights (sort of) to The Lord of the Rings last year, says there are no less than five games based on Tolkien’s works in production that will see release over the next two years.

The games are all being made by external partners, but Embracer, having completed its acquisition of rights holder Middle-earth Enterprises, will receive royalties on all of them.

The time frame for the releases is a little unclear. Embracer’s most recent financial report says to expect them in the financial year 2023/24 (so by the end of March 2024), but another presentation of the same figures mentions that five titles will release “during the next 24 months.” Either way, that’s a lot of Middle-earth gaming action in a relatively short space of time.

So, what are these five games?

One of them is certainly The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a stealth action-adventure from Deadalic Entertainment, which was delayed from a September 2022 release date to a spring or summer 2023 launch.

Another is likely EA’s “collectible role-playing game” for mobiles, The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth, from the developer of Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.

There’s also The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, a survival and crafting game from developer Free Range Games, in which players assume the roles of Dwarves recolonizing a procedurally generated version of their ancient home below the Misty Mountains.

A fourth could be an untitled game being made by Weta Workshop, the New Zealand digital effects studio that worked on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, as well as James Cameron’s Avatar movies. Weta has partnered with Take-Two’s boutique publishing arm Private Division for the game,