by
William D’Angelo
, posted on 18 August 2022 / 1,650 Views
Embracer Group announced it has entered an agreement through its subsidiary Freemode to acquire Middle-earth Enterprises and the IP rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien in regards to motion pictures, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks, and stage productions.
The deal includes the matching rights for other Middle-earth related literary works authorized by the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins, which have not been explored yet.
Embracer says the deal will give them “significant growth opportunities within PC, consoles, mobile, and tabletop games.”
“I am truly excited to have The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, one of the world’s most epic fantasy franchises join the Embracer family, opening up more transmedia opportunities including synergies across our global group,” said Embracer founder Lars Wingefors.
“I am thrilled to see what lies in the future for this IP with Freemode and Asmodee as a start within the group. Going forward, we also look forward to collaborating with both existing and new external licensees of our increasingly stronger IP portfolio.”
A life-long and avid gamer, William D’Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.