Middle-earth Enterprises Partners with Athlon Games for New Lord of the Rings MMO

It appears that a new Lord of the Rings MMO is going to be coming in the future. The information comes via a “Voluntary Announcement – Business Update” by Leyou Technologies that has established a new publishing brand called Athlon Games. The document reveals that Athlon has partnered with Middle-earth Enterprises “to develop and publish a free-to-play massively multiplayer online video game based on The Lord of the Rings, the landmark fantasy literary work of JRR Tolkien”.

The game will be a prequel to the events in The Lord of the Rings “during the years leading to the events” in the trilogy. “The game will provide Middle-earth fans throughout the world with a new, immersive game experience for epic exploration of the Tolkien universe.”

The Group is principally engaged in the development and publishing of online multiplayer PC/console video games. It mainly focuses on high-quality video game products and is a leading player in the market of PC/console free-to-play games.

We will be tracking down the developers and / or publisher to find out more and will keep you posted.

In case you’re wondering, Athlon Games is owned by LeYou, the same company that owns Warframe developer Digital Extremes. This is from their official site:

Who we are: Athlon Games is a global developer and publisher of free-to-play console and PC games. Our headquarters are in Burbank, with offices in London and Beijing. Athlon Games Inc. is a subsidiary of Leyou Technologies Holdings Limited.

Our Philosophy: Our goal is to create AAA cooperative console and PC experiences that gamers will want to play for many years. We believe great games come from great communities where everyone has a voice. We believe our games should be of the highest quality, created by the industry’s best global talent. We believe our games should surprise and delight our fans – every day, week, month, year and beyond.

Our Approach to Games:

• Built to Last: We make games that players will want to play for many years where there is always something new to discover – every day, week, month and year
• Quality is in our DNA: Created by the industry’s best global talent, our games feature high quality, immersive worlds with unmatched gameplay for beginners and veterans
• Community First:  Every game we make is a unique collaboration between the developer and the game’s community

You can read the full document here.

What do you think of this HUGE news?