Embracer Group To Acquire The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy And The Hobbit IP Rights

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Embracer Group, the video game holding company that snapped up numerous video game companies and studios over the past few months, will soon gain control of The Lord of the Rings IP and all of its associated franchises just as the One Ring controls the Rings of Power.

The Swedish company is currently in the process of acquiring Middle-earth Enterprises which will grant it full ownership of the entire The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit IP. This includes rights to all video games, board games, motion pictures, merchandise, stage productions, and theme parks, as well as literary works owned by Middle-earth that have been and will be approved by Tolkien’s estate and HarperCollins.

“I am truly excited to have The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, one of the world’s most epic fantasy franchises join the Embracer family, opening up more transmedia opportunities including synergies across our global group,” said Embracer Group Founder and CEO Lars Wingefors. “I am thrilled to see what lies in the future for this IP with Freemode and Asmodee as a start within the group. Going forward, we also look forward to collaborating with both existing and new external licensees of our increasingly stronger IP portfolio.”

“We at the Zaentz Company have had the honor over the past half century of stewarding the Tolkien rights so that Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fans worldwide could enjoy award winning epic films, challenging video games, first rate theatre and merchandise of every variety,” said The Saul Zaents Company COO Marty Glick. “We could not be more thrilled that it is Embracer now taking up the responsibility and we are confident their group will take it to new heights and dimensions while maintaining homage to the spirit of these great literary works.”

The trademark also includes ownership of copyrighted characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Galadriel, Eowyn, Gollum, and other characters from the books and movies, as well as Amazon’s new The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power series, Warner Bros.’ upcoming The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim animated movie, and EA’s Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle Earth mobile game.

There’s no mention of Lord of the Rings Online which will obviously remain with Standing Stone Games and its parent companies, Daybreak and Enad Global 7, for as long as the license agreement is standing. The big question now weighing on the LOTRO community’s minds is: what will happen to the long-running MMORPG when the license inevitably expires?

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power - Official Trailer | Prime Video