Embracer plans to ‘exploit The Lord of the Rings in a very significant fashion’

Embracer has big plans for the Lord of the Rings IP when it comes to video game releases.

On Tuesday, the publisher announced a major restructuring plan that will see some game studios closed and some projects cancelled.

CEO Lars Wingefors said the company plans to increase its focus on internal IP, a subject which newly appointed interim chief operating officer Matthew Karch discussed during a press conference.

“I have a high degree of confidence that this entire process is going to easily translate into better product selection that’s more profitable and that gives us a greater opportunity for growth in the future, and that helps to leverage the IP that we own within our organisation,” said former Saber Interactive CEO Karch.

“I mean, we own Lord of the Rings, and we know we need to be exploiting Lord of the Rings in a very significant fashion and turning that into one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world, and that’s obviously something we’re going to be doing.

“And so that’s a much better use of resources than some of the other projects that some of our teams have been working on. So, working together we have those opportunities and we’re super excited to see that put to work relatively quickly.”

Embracer acquired the entertainment rights for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit IPs in August 2022.

In February, it announced that it had stuck an agreement with New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures to collaborate on multiple feature films based on the J.R.R. Tolkien works.

Further reading

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Embracer Group announces plans to close some studios and cancel some game projects

The restructuring will make it a "more focused, self-sufficient company", its CEO says

The most recently released Lord of the Rings game was May’s poorly received The Lord of the Rings Gollum.

Last month, it was announced that Amazon Games will develop and publish a Lord of the Rings MMO for PC and console.