There seems to be a lot of gaming stuff up for sale right now doesn't there? And it's not all developers and publishers either. Variety has revealed that the film and gaming rights for Lord of the Rings are now up for grabs.
The projected value of the rights is at least $2 billion, which is understandable, given the value of the Lord of the Rings brand.
Naturally, we're interested in where the gaming rights end up. Amazon is currently making a Lord of the Rings TV show, so it'd be silly to count them out. After all, they're making a huge push into gaming with Lost Ark and New World, so the gaming rights would surely be of interest too.
However, should we count Xbox out? Sure, Microsoft hasn't really gone out and bought purely IP, but they've certainly opened their wallets in recent years. $2 billion looks like pocket change next to the company's purchase of Activision Blizzard.
Who do you think will end buy buying these Lord of the Rings rights? Let us know below.
[source variety.com]
Comments 17
Where do we place bids? I have at least £20 to propose.
Yes, Amazon might be interested but will they make a The Lord of the Rings game the way it's meant to and the way it'll sell well? Microsoft don't make films and they're part of the deal according to the article. I don't know who might be interested. Sony make films and games, so...
The $2bn valuation seems to be for ALL the film, merchandise, video games, live events, etc. (seemingly everything but TV shows, and maybe books) so I doubt MS or any other gaming company would want to buy all that. Sony might as they've got Sony Pictures, and a bigger presence in merch than Microsoft does.
One has to think Amazon really thinking what to do on this.
I'm going to say no. They dont seem interested in movie rights. 2 billion is a lot for what isnt even an existing gaming IP. It's not like they could make a third shadow game, they would need to build a new game from the ground up.
It would be cool though, the Lotr franchise is begging for a good age of empires style game.
I don't think it would be of 'great' interest to MS as only the 'gaming/software' aspect seems to fit within MS's core product lines. That being said, they would have the option to commission or 'lease' out the Licence to Movie/TV companies to use.
If their Studio's were 'interested' in making games that would work within the LotR universe, with all that 'lore' and structure already established, I think that would be motivation for MS to acquire the Rights.
Realistically, you are looking at perhaps Warner Bros, Sony, TenCent and of course Amazon although the 'rights' are complicated as others have some rights to LotR too.]
Pffft no thanks ..now if this was Batman ..it would be a diff story
@AlexOlney good to see they’re paying you well buddy.
I am interested in this; and hoping it means we can get remasters of the older games. I literally just re-bought the Third Age on Gamecube, but it’s hard to go through when you have a kid etc; much easier on a Series X to just dashboard and leave it until I want to continue. Crazy how convenient things are these days. Hoping EA or whoever plays ball and this can happen (same with James Bond and the Harry Potter games).
I cant see Microsoft being interested in this, they need dev teams with the IP imo.
Sony on the other hand, given their movie studios, could do a lot with these rights even without making a game, so I wouldn't count them out.
Its a lot of money for a Netflix or Amazon buy though, so while they may look at it, I fear it might be too rich for a purely business decision.
Be interesting to see where this lands...
I don't think they will because I see this more for the movie and show producers so I'd expect to see Netflix, Disney and Amazon fighting over this
I cant say Microsoft doesnt buy IP. Sony buys teams for the talent to make games and developer talent is more important in the end then IP. But then again Microsoft doesnt have financial constraints so who knows, but hope not
I hear the sound of Disney's checkbooks opening up.
Checks behind the cushions on the sofa .... 2 billion right ?
@BAMozzy this hits the nail on the head a bit. True MS doesn't really care about the movie industry, but they do license their content for others to make such things. If they want, they could run this deal like sony does with Spiderman. Use the IP to make games, but license the movie rights to someone who will turn it into a billion dollar movie.
I think you're right though, I'm not sure how interested MS would be in this.
Please this. I’m a HUGE LOTR fan. I would absolutely love this purchase.
would love it if they grabbed this license
Shadow of War was one of my favourite games so hopefully whoever buys it will fund an LOTR game with Nemesis system again.
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