[GameSpot] - Embracer Aims To Turn The Lord Of The Rings Into A Massive Gaming Franchise

[343iBot]

In the wake of turbulent restructuring following a $2 billion that fell through, Embracer has spoken more about its goals for expanding the Lord of the Rings intellectual property.

In a webcast session (via IGN), interim chief operations officer Matthew Karch said that the company needs to be "exploiting Lord of the Rings in a very significant fashion" by turning it into "one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world" as it looks to start working on profitable ventures. Embracer is planning to make some big cuts to its workforce, as it announced a "restructuring program" that will see thousands of jobs cut, several studios closed down, and a few game cancellations.

"I have a high degree of confidence 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 we own within our organization," Karch said. "We own Lord of the Rings, and we know we need to be exploiting Lord of the Rings in a very significant fashion and turn that into one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world. That’s obviously something we’re going to be doing. That’s a much better use of resources than some of the other projects that some of our teams have been working on."

Embracer acquired the rights to The Lord of the Rings video games, TV shows, and movies back in 2022, joining its rich portfolio of brands like THQ Nordic, Gearbox, Crystal Dynamics, and Eidos-Montreal alongside comic book publisher Dark Horse Media. The most recent LOTR game, Nacon and Daedelic Entertainment's The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, has been a critical flop, and a new MMO set in Tolkein's high fantasy universe is being developed alongside Amazon and its games division.

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