Par la grâce des héritiers de Tolkien qui multiplient les licences comme Jésus multipliait les pains, nous sommes inondés de produits estampillés Lord of the Rings, aussi bien du côté Virgin Universal Games (qui possède les droits de l'oeuvre littéraire) que du côté Electronic Arts (qui possède ceux des films de Peter Jackson). Bref, ça commence à souler, mais ce n'est pas fini : Electronic Arts vient en effet d'annoncer la mise en chantier de Battle for Middle-Earth, prévu pour l'été 2004 et qui utilisera le moteur de Command & Conquer: Generals. Ce sera donc un RTS. Oui, exactement comme War of the Ring, de VUG, développé par Liquid Entertainment, les papas du très bon Battle Realms, et prévu pour le mois de novembre.
C'est aussi ça le merchandising.
EA Announces the Development of the Lord of the Rings, the Battle for Middle-Earth for the PC
Monday September 22, 1:02 pm ET
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 2003--The battle for Middle-earth is about to begin...Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS – News) officially announced today the development of The Lord of the Rings(TM), The Battle for Middle-earth(TM) for the PC under the EA GAMES(TM) brand. Developed at EA Los Angeles by the same team that created the award-winning real-time strategy (RTS) PC hits Commander & Conquer(TM) Red Alert(TM) 2 and Command & Conquer(TM) Generals, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth game will capture the epic battles from The Lord of the Rings films and deliver them to PC gamers in summer 2004.
"The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth will give gamers the first chance to play the epic battles they've witnessed in Peter Jackson's films," said Mark Skaggs, VP and Executive Producer of the game. "Fans will be able to immerse themselves in Middle Earth and experience The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy like never before, including controlling the evil side of the conflict."
The Battle for Middle-earth utilizes the Generals game engine, and in the game players can select from the different "good" or "evil" campaigns, where they will be given the freedom to command a variety of major armies from the films, each with their own distinct strengths and weaknesses. Prepare for war by creating offensive and defensive strategies set in the memorable battle locations taken straight from the big screen. The Battle for Middle-earth RTS game will utilize the digital assets created for the films and will feature exclusive voiceover from the real actors as well as actual movie footage from the three films.
Under an exclusive licensing agreement with New Line Cinema, EA has the rights to create and publish interactive entertainment games based on the movie trilogy. The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth will be the third EA title released under its The Lord of the Rings franchise. The upcoming The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King game based on the final movie will release in November 2003 on multiple platforms. For more information on EA's The Lord of the Rings games, visit the official franchise website at: lordoftherings.eagames.com.