Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Snowblind Studios Launch “The Lord of the Rings: War in the North” Video Game

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today announced the launch of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North in North America for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Games for Windows. Inspired by The Lord of the Rings films and literature, this Action RPG game supports co-op for up to three players and introduces a new story to the canon.

“The Lord of the Rings: War in the North blends unrelenting combat with a great co-op experience for players to journey through an original story in a dark Middle-earth like the one portrayed in the original novels”

In The Lord of the Rings: War in the North gamers will play as part of a three-player Fellowship including Farin the Dwarf Champion, Eradan the Human Ranger, and Andriel the Elf Loremaster. Each character boasts different strengths and abilities needed to defeat their foes, requiring players to play together or perish. The Giant Eagle, Beleram, lends crucial support to the Fellowship, and can be called in by players for strategic attacks against hordes of Orcs, Trolls and other remorseless creatures of Middle-earth.

“The Lord of the Rings: War in the North blends unrelenting combat with a great co-op experience for players to journey through an original story in a dark Middle-earth like the one portrayed in the original novels,” said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “The game delivers high quality graphics and customization perfect for The Lord of the Rings fans.”

Supporting local or online co-op, Fellowships can be configured in two or three player LAN or online play, or up to two player split screen. A strong Fellowship is born from strong team members, so players can individually customize and upgrade their characters, taking advantage of the literally thousands of weapons, armor pieces and items as well as other unique skills and abilities in the game. The game also supports single player mode with AI companions.

A Collector’s Edition of the game is available now for PS3 and Xbox 360. Featuring the Ranger of the North Quiver Case, the Collector’s Edition includes a special War in the North art collection showcasing the characters, enemies and environments from the game, as well as a behind-the-music DVD and platform-specific digital content. The Collector’s Edition is priced at $129.99.

Also launching today from WaterTower Music is The Lord of the Rings: War in the North - Original Video Game Score by award-winning composer Inon Zur. This 19 track score to the game, recorded at famed Abbey Road Studios in the UK, will be available at all digital retailers; the CD will be available at Amazon.com.

NVIDIA worked with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Snowblind Studios to ensure that The Lord of the Rings: War in the North for PC takes advantage of the 3D image quality of NVIDIA® 3D Vision™ technology. 3D Vision, which provides PC gamers with the ultimate immersive 3D experience, adds a new dimension to the gaming experience, allowing users to enjoy the breathtaking worlds of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North in rich, life-like stereoscopic 3D.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is rated “M” by the ESRB. The Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 versions are priced at $59.99 and the Games for Windows version is priced at $49.99. The Collector’s Edition price is $129.99.

About Middle-earth Enterprises

The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises is the holder of worldwide motion picture stage, merchandising, and other rights in certain literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Middle-earth Enterprises has been producing and licensing films, stage productions and merchandise based on the Tolkien work for more than 35 years and is headquartered in Berkeley, California. www.middleearth.com

About Snowblind Studios

Snowblind Studios is an award-winning video game developer based in the Pacific Northwest with more than ten years of experience. Utilizing a rich history of cooperative play games, they helped to define the growing Action RPG genre with critically acclaimed titles including Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and the Champions of Norrath series. The studio was acquired by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group in 2009.

About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group, is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) awakened the world to the power of computer graphics when it invented the GPU in 1999. Since then, it has consistently set new standards in visual computing with breathtaking, interactive graphics available on devices ranging from tablets and portable media players to notebooks and workstations. NVIDIA's expertise in programmable GPUs has led to breakthroughs in parallel processing which make supercomputing inexpensive and widely accessible. The company holds more than 1,100 U.S. patents, including ones covering designs and insights which are fundamental to modern computing. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.

(S11)