Codemasters holds on to LOTRO in Europe

Codemasters, the publisher for Lord of the Rings Online in Europe, will continue to run the game despite Turbine's recent acquisition by Warner Bros. Interactive.

Warner's president, Martin Tremblay, told Eurogamer that: "Turbine will continue to work with Codemasters in Europe on distribution of The Lord of the Rings Online game," however we should "stay tuned" for new regarding DDO Unlimited and Ashseron's Call.

A Codemasters spokesperson added: "Turbine's recently announced acquisition is very positive for the future of its titles. The move will not impact European players where Codemasters Online retains co-publishing and operator rights for The Lord of the Rings Online."

The purchase of Turbine, for what is rumored to be a deal worth $160M, was revealed earlier in the week.

Warner now holds the rights to just about everything J.R.R. Tolkien touched.

Turbine still holds the exclusive license to make all internet games based on the LOTR books.