The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Coming in 2011

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, as the publisher, and Snowblind Studios, as the developer, have announced The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, a mix between role playing and action that will be built around the multiplayer experience. The launch date for the game is set for 2011 and will arrive on the Xbox 360 from Microsoft, the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the PC through Games for Windows.

Warner Bros. intends to draw from both the Lord of the Rings movies and the original Tolkien literary worlds to build The Lord of the Rings: War in the North.

Up to three players will be able to cooperate for the campaign section, forming their own Fellowship that will battle Sauron's encroachment in the North of Middle Earth. Snowblind promises a deep role playing system built around the franchise, with players able to choose a role in the battle and then customize their talents, weapons, equipment and special abilities.

Martin Tremblay, who is the president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, stated that “With The Lord of the Rings: War in the North we are taking a mature approach to the widely celebrated property with authentic portrayals of battles and all new storylines. Utilising the award-winning and passionate development team at Snowblind Studios, we are looking to evolve the RPG experience and deliver The Lord of the Rings game fans have been waiting for.”

Snowblind Studios was acquired by Warner Bros. in 2009 as part of an effort to expand its developer base and turn more intellectual properties it owns into videogames. The outfit previously worked on Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for the Xbox and the PlayStation 2, and Champions of Norrath.

Despite the huge popularity of both books and movies, the Lord of the Rings settings lacked punch in the videogaming world, only the MMO Lord of the Rings Online finding a stable audience.