LOTR White Council on hold

By Tom Bramwell Published 2 February, 2007

EA confirms rumours.

Electronic Arts has finally admitted that The Lord of the Rings: The White Council is in a bit of bother, although it hasn't done much to clarify whether we'll see it or not.

Earlier this year rumours sprang up that the RPG, conceived for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 last year, had been cancelled, but EA refused to say anything on the subject.

Faced with investor questioning in a financial conference call yesterday though, EA CFO Warren Jenson said: "The Lord of the Rings product is back in development in terms of being on hold." Which presumably means, er, that it's not currently coming out but isn't dead. Or something like that.

According to reports, Jenson went on to say that it won't be released before 31st March 2008 - the end of EA's next financial year - so it's probably best not to get your hopes up.

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About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (13) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • spliffhead #1 5 years ago

    Wow, EA finally milks a francise to death.

  • mkreku #2 5 years ago

    Aww crap. I was hoping that with this and Project Grey (also dead now) EA were turning away from the mass produced crap they've been churning out for the past decade. I remember a time when EA actually stood for quality (back on my Commodore 64) and not just yearly incremental sequels.

  • Xerx3s #3 5 years ago

    Reason: Not enough chavvy elements in it.

    Answer: Pimp bilbo. Include gangster wannabe's, biEtches & guns. Downloadable content will be added to pimp gandalf & co with gold & glitter.

  • dazjo #4 5 years ago

    single player lord of the rings...bah! who cares...bring on Codemasters' lord of the rings ONLINE...sounds like a much better plan to me.

  • Redeye #5 5 years ago

    LMAO@Xerx3s :D

    mkreku: Yep, then Trip sold the whole ball of wax to go and make 3DO (way to go, Trip), and the resulting company turned into a shite factory.

    spliffhead: Certainly not the first time, either...

    Electronic Arse - bringing you painfully tedious shovelware since far too long ago, and masters of flogging deceased equine quadrupeds to desperately-gullible gamers.

  • PortJourno #6 5 years ago

    "The Lord of the Rings product is back in development in terms of being on hold." For goodness' sake...

  • GiarcYekrub #7 5 years ago

    They're waiting for the next movies

  • chupachups #8 5 years ago

    "I remember a time when EA actually stood for quality (back on my Commodore 64) and not just yearly incremental sequels."

    I remember that too, they made some great PC games in the early days.

    I think they were generally better on computer platforms than console platforms, consoles seem to have made them not try very hard.

  • kangarootoo #9 5 years ago

    Its company structure that influenced the change, not the target platform. From a business perpective I guess they did the right thing, as they now make a huge amount of cash.

    Not necessarily a great thing from the customer or employees point of view, but then we will just keep buying ther stuff, so what else can we expect.

  • Rodriguez #10 5 years ago

    EA CFO Warren Jenson said: "The Lord of the Rings product is back in development in terms of being on hold."

    And the award for the most muddled comment of the year goes to...

  • ronuds #11 5 years ago

    I love LoTR... I just hate EA's version of it.

    I'm sure this game will sell well in Europe, though.

  • Veldaban #12 5 years ago

    "I was hoping that with this and Project Grey (also dead now)..."

    Aren't White Council and Project Grey the same thing? They just renamed it...

  • _Price_ #13 5 years ago

    Ah well, lets just wait until Newline / Jackson / whoever else has rights make The Hobbit. I'm sure EA won't be able to get the games out fast enough.

    Actually quite enjoyed The Third Age when it was released a few years back. Very linear, but fairly good storyline (until the last 'boss') / turn-based combat system. Not really a patch on more established franchises but worth a look if EA keep pushing this down their release schedule.