Variety is reporting that Electronic Arts no longer possesses the video game rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise. This includes the movie rights possessed by New Line Cinema and the rights to the book materials controlled by Saul Zaentz Company D/B/A Tolkien Enterprises. The final title to release under the agreement that stretches back to 2001 and was extended in 2007 was Lord of the Rings: Conquest.

Given the fact that movie studios are becoming increasingly self sufficient when it comes to making games based upon their movies, there's a chance that The Lord of the Rings will never again be licensed out to an external studio. Last summer, Time Warner invested heavily in Turbine, the developers of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.