There Are Many Games in This World Bilbo Baggins

You know, there are times where I’m just sad that something didn’t pan out, this time I’m upset. As a self described and passionate Lord of the Rings fan, it never fails to make me sad when something like this happens.

So the British Game Developer TT Games, known for producing the LEGO games, had a plan back in 2008. A plan that involved creating a tie-in video game for Peter Jackson’s Hobbit movies. Jon Burton, the founder of TT Games, shared the plan in a YouTube video.

Worst part is that he also showed off a few scenes of a tech demo, and it actually looked pretty solid. As in, it holds up today, which is a remarkable feat by all standards.

Using Xbox 360 software/hardware, they recreated scenes from the movies effectively showing off what they were capable of. Scenes like the famous Balrog fight, Frodo and Sam, Saruman VS Gandalf, the fight at Amon Hen etc. Basically they recreated some of the movie’s biggest moments as a tech demo.

What happened then, if it looked so rock solid, what was the problem?

Apparently it was TOO good, because that’s a thing. The footage, despite being technically impressive especially for the 360, was simply too expensive for a pitch meeting. Bear in mind, this wasn’t just Peter Jackson who was part of this pitch.

Guillermo Del Toro, who was originally penned to write and direct The Hobbit movies, was also involved. Reportedly, Del Toro was receptive to the idea and was very impressed by the tech demo.

Unfortunately, Warner Bros sealed the fate of the game when they decided they didn’t want tie-in games. They wanted games that existed in the same universe but focused on new stories and characters.

In hindsight, that certainly explains the Shadow of War, War in the North and Shadow of Mordor games. To be fair to WB, those games were all extremely rock solid entries that are fondly remembered by the community. Even if the Shadow series pretty much takes a dump on some of the established lore in Middle Earth.

While we would have loved to see TT Games develop this game, there is a bright future ahead for Lord of the Rings. We’re getting a stealth game based on Gollum that showed off some impressive screenshots and trailers. 

Amazon is also developing an original story called The Second Age. Not only is it an original story, but Amazon is spending millions on the project. They seem pretty intent on making it not just a good LOTR series, but a good series in general. So there is plenty to look forward to for Lord of the Rings fans.

Even then, seeing what could have been will always hurt. Here’s hoping that TT gets a second chance sometime in the future! 

Let us know what you think in the comments below! Stay tuned at Geekhash for more updates as they come out!