Lord of the Rings: hints suggests new triple-A game in development

Warner Bros. seems to have at least one new Lord of the Rings-related project on the go.

Writing for Kotaku, industry sleuth Superannuation spotted a mention of a new triple-A Lord of the Rings title in the works at the Warner Bros.-owned Monolith Productions in December 2012 and January 2013. The storyboard work the artist mentions took place after the release of Monolith's latest Lord of the Rings game, Guardians of Middle-Earth.

The studio also recently began hiring for a new project - a cross-generation, quest-based open-world triple-A action-adventure game. Given the developer's downsizing of a few months before, it's unlikely it has more than two projects on the go, suggesting these are one and the same. It doesn't sound much like Betrayer, which was announced recently.

Super also noted that Tolkien rights holder The Saul Zaentz Company recently registered varios game-related trademarks and domains for Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor. The timing fits a project in the early stages of development, as The Saul Zaentz Company has a history of making trademarks a couple of years in advance of release.

Thanks, Gamespot.