The world of Middle-earth and its adaptive iterations has had a protracted historical past of unusual and peculiar homeowners, even earlier than Peter Jackson’s iconic film trilogies got here alongside and made that much more difficult. Now, an enormous sea-change within the rights to Tolkien’s work has made issues much more complicated… because of a online game writer that’s intent on buying up as much of the industry, and extra, as doable.

Late final night time the Embracer Group—which has spent the previous few years hoovering up sport studios like Gearbox and THQ Nordic, rights to video games like Deus Ex and Tomb Raider, and even non-gaming leisure media like comics and collectibles writer Dark Horse and boardgame creator Asmodee—announced that it had acquired Middle-Earth Enterprises, alongside a number of acquisitions that included bodily online game writer Limited Run Games, sport developer Tripwire Games (the studio behind Killing Floor), and extra.

What Is Middle-Earth Enterprises?

Middle-Earth Enterprises was previously a division of the Saul Zaentz Company, which, because the Seventies, has been the de facto license holder for every little thing associated to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit besides releases of the books themselves. Middle-Earth Enterprises has spent the previous 5 many years licensing out the rights to make Lord of the Rings-affiliated tasks, together with video and board video games, stage diversifications and bodily experiences, merchandising, and movie and TV diversifications. This is now what Embracer Group owns, and what was thought of to go up on the market earlier this yr when Saul Zaentz floated the concept of promoting off Middle-Earth Enterprises for no less than $2 billion. Embracer Group’s complete acquisitions final night time amounted to round $770 million in complete, so suffice to say they didn’t go for wherever close to that a lot.

What About Amazon and Warner Bros.’ Lord of the Rings Projects?

But they’re not the one Lord of the Rings rights on the market. Warner Bros., after all, nonetheless has some movie rights pertaining to the world and visible language established in New Line Cinema and Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings and Hobbits trilogies—which it’s utilizing to proceed to do tasks just like the upcoming War of the Rohirrim, a 2024 anime film set a whole lot of years earlier than the occasions of the movies, in addition to video video games primarily based on the Peter Jackson motion pictures like EA’s cell sport Heroes of Middle-Earth. There can also be Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power streaming collection, simply weeks away from premiering. Amazon bought the rights to develop what would change into The Rings of Power in 2017 for $250 million, utilizing a loophole surrounding the rights owned by Middle-Earth Enterprises. Middle-Earth Enterprise’s TV rights solely embody TV collection proven serially in 4 or much less episodes, whereas Amazon’s rights enable it to make a collection longer than that (Rings of Power’s first season is eight episodes lengthy).

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What Does This Mean for the Future of The Lord of the Rings?

Essentially, each a little bit and loads has modified for the way forward for Lord of the Rings’ licensing. Middle-Earth Enterprise altering arms for the primary time in half a century is a giant deal, and Embracer Group has already made clear that it has plans to capitalize on its acquisition, with a press launch final night time stating potential plans embody “exploring additional movies based on iconic characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Gollum, Galadriel, Eowyn and other characters from the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, and continue to provide new opportunities for fans to explore this fictive world through merchandising and other experiences.” But it’s additionally primarily the identical state of affairs that the franchise’s rights have been in for that half century—Warner Bros. owns some, Amazon owns some, and now it’s Embracer fairly than Saul Zaentz that owns a big chunk. Even past Rings of Power and War of the Rohirrim, simply count on to be going there and again once more much more sooner or later.

Want extra io9 information? Check out when to count on the most recent Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and every little thing it’s essential learn about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.