Turbine today kicks off the North American closed Beta for the upcoming The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) Free-to-Play. Beta participants will help shape and refine new content and features to be introduced in Volume 3, Book 2, as well as the new in-game Store, when LOTRO Free-to-Play launches this fall. Continue reading “LOTRO Free-to-Play Closed Beta Begins & 1st Store Screens!”
Category: Gaming
Turbine’s Award-winning Online Game Will Be Free-to-Play Worldwide This Fall
BURBANK, CA – June 4, 2010 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced today that Turbine, Inc. will unveil a major update this fall, making The Lord of the Rings Online™ (LOTRO) free-to-play for everyone. Extending its award-winning story, LOTRO delivers the ultimate adventure featuring a massive world with state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, and a rich set of features that until now could only be found in premium subscription-based online games. Continue reading “Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Announces The Lord of the Rings Online™ to Adopt Global Free-to-Play Model”
Sean Astin is getting back into character as Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins’ faithful hobbit friend in the Lord of the Rings trilogy—but he’s not prepping to shoot The Hobbit, because that is set before his character was even born. Samwise will be appearing in the new Warner Brothers Interactive video game The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest.
“There’s a video game coming out soon,” Astin said in a group interview on May 15 in Burbank, Calif., where he was promoting his Disney Channel series Special Agent Oso. “Tomorrow I’m doing like my last day on it. That’s all about what happens after The Lord of the Rings. It’s set sort of in Hobbiton, and Sam has all his children and other children and is telling them these stories. Then as he starts telling the stories, the game kind of kicks in and you can be Aragorn.” More..
It is always nice to have the same birthday as a friend and as TORn turned 11, Lord of the Rings Online is celebrating its third anniversary. The massive multiplayer online role playing game opens Middle-earth to virtual exploration and social gaming. (They even properly call it “Middle-earth” not “Middle Earth” so yeah!). Jim Crowley, President and CEO of Turbine, Inc. says in a press release that the player base is up 15% this year.
Turbine is masterful as updating content and continues to open more Middle-earth to players. The game is celebrating through June 30 with incentives and gift. Read more below. Continue reading “LOTRO turns three years old”
Media giant Warner Bros. has acquired independent MMO developer Turbine, creator of Lord of the Rings Online, completing Warner’s internal ownership of all Lord of the Rings-based video games. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a Boston Globe report pegs the purchase price as high as $160 million, based on information from “a source close to negotiation.”
Warner has previously invested in Turbine, which since 1998 was heavily funded by a variety of venture capital sources. Last August, the company raised $6.6 million, and the previous year it completed a $40 million round from firms including Highland Capital, Polaris Venture Partners, Tudor Ventures, and Columbia Capital. More..
LONDON, April 5 – Indian conglomerate Reliance ADA has taken a stake in Codemasters, the British computer games company behind Lord of the Rings Online, Colin McRae Rally and Formula One. Codemasters said on Monday that Reliance’s media and entertainment arm, Reliance BIG, and the software company’s existing investor, venture capital firm Balderton Capital, would each hold 50 percent. Reliance BIG’s gaming division, Zapak, India’s largest gaming company, would oversee the investment, it said in a statement. “Zapak’s global strength in mobile gaming will enhance Codemasters’ ability to fully leverage its attractive franchises such as its racing and cricket games,” said Zapak head Rohit Sharma. More..