F2P launch of LOTRO delayed in Europe

Codemasters has delayed the European free-to-play launch of The Lord of the Rings Online in order to better prepare its infrastructure for the massive influx of new and returning players.

Book 2: Ride of the Grey Company and the Store are now up on the US end for head starters, but the European launch will be later than expected.

"We are really pleased with the performance of the game and excited about the response to Free to Play from our players," said Michael Rowland, Codemasters online producer to Eurogamer.

"Given the complexities and challenges faced in the preparation and implementation of the new store to work within our infrastructure, we feel more time is needed to deliver the high level of service our players have quite rightly come to expect.

"As a result, we have decided to delay launch to ensure that we can support the massive increase in players that we are anticipating and deliver them a Free to Play experience like none other."

The update to the game adds the new Store, and the area of Enedwaith, along with the addition of level 20 skirmishes.

So far, the Store is offering stat increases, cosmetic clothing, buff items, mounts, extra wardrobe and shared storage space, emotes, destiny items, housing decorations, and loads more. Eventually it will hold around 2500 different items.

Players will earn Turbine points for completing deeds and certain quests, and if you happened to gain reputation with some of the different factions in the game before the F2P went live - the second you log in, you will earn points for those deed completions.

No date has been set on the relaunch in Europe, but we'll send a mail to see how long of a wait you can expect.

Via Eurogamer.