Middle-Earth Online to become Lord of the Rings Online

Middle-Earth Online will be undergoing a name change to Lord of the Rings Online according to this month's PC Gamer.

Middle-Earth Online, a MMORPG currently under development by Turbine, Inc. is about to undergo a name-change to Lord of the Rings Online according to an article in this month’s PC Gamer magazine.

The article states that since separating from Vivendi, its former publisher, Turbine have felt that the game Vivendi wanted them to create would be too dull. Matthew Imregi, the lead content designer for Middle-Earth Online stated that Lord of the Rings Online “focuses heavily on the idea of family history, which you’ll determine when you create your character, playing a big part in the game.”

It has been suggested that a big driving force behind the name change lies in the marketing potential for a game with “Lord of the Rings” in the title. In the wake of the immensely successful Lord of the Rings movies and the upcoming Hobbit movie Vivendi may have seen a more obvious link with the works of J.R.R. Tolkien to be the best thing for the game.

Patience, the community manager for Middle-Earth Online stated that the news came ahead of schedule and that Turbine was not able to launch the new website, which we believe will be located at www.lordoftherings-online.com, at the same time as the announcement as they had planned.

It seems clear that this is more than a name change for Middle-Earth Online, the online community is already in a state of unrest over what will happen to the game they have been following with anticipation since it was announced in 2003.