Gamasutra has the word that EA has the Lord of the Rings IP locked up through the end of next year. With the additional license for the books under their wing and no competition from Vivendi, they have big plans set for their next game inside the franchise world. "The new game will follow the upcoming release of The Lord of the Rings: The White Council, previously announced as an open world role-playing game set in Middle-earth to be available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in November 2007. Earlier referred to as Project Gray Company , the game is being developed using the same simulation AI technology used in The Sims 2." Relatedly, Game|Life notes that one million players will soon be traveling through Middle Earth as the open beta for Lord of the Rings Online gets underway. If you signed up to get in, you probably will.

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