Todd Howard Got Extremely Lucky When EA Abandoned an Open World Lord of the Rings Game Right Before Skyrim

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Todd Howard Got Extremely Lucky When EA Abandoned an Open World Lord of the Rings Game Right Before Skyrim

It’s hard to believe, but it has been over 12 years since the release of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Upon its release, it completely shook up the RPG genre and presented players with a gameplay that still holds up in today’s day and age.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a generational hit. (Image via Bethesda Game Studios)

Skyrim is truly Bethesda and Todd Howard’s magnum opus. However, the game would’ve never been able to achieve the heights it did if EA hadn’t canceled an open-world Lord of the Rings game that had all the potential to lead the RPG genre and obliterate its competitors.

EA’s Lord of the Rings game would’ve smashed records

Morfydd Clark in a still from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Image via Prime Video)

You’ll be shocked to know that years ago, EA Redwood Shores was crafting a game based on the Lord of the Rings franchise called the Lord of the Rings: The White Council.

The game was supposed to draw inspiration from the original books that we’ve all grown to love and Peter Jackson’s acclaimed movie trilogy. Initially, EA wanted to bring an open-world experience where gamers could go on to different kinds of story quests across the game’s multiple locations.

Lord of the Rings: The White Council would’ve allowed gamers to make their very own characters, be they Dwarf, Elf, Human, or Hobbit, and they’d helped the White Council with an adventure while they weren’t doing side missions.

However, in 2007, EA announced that the project was on a hiatus, and it was shelved later on. You might wonder why EA canceled an open-world title with such incredible potential. Well, it’s due to a number of reasons.

While chatting with

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multiple developers who worked on the game opened up about its downfall and stated that EA wasn’t looking to tackle another big-budget project right after releasing The Godfather in 2006.

While initially developing the title, EA wanted to rival Bethesda and BioWare to give an ultimate Lord of the Rings experience, but this proved to be too difficult. What’s worse, it was proving to be a major headache to develop for PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles as there were numerous technical difficulties.

Plus, EA’s license for the Lord of the Rings franchise was about to expire in 2007, and that would’ve left the company with basically no time to develop the game. In the end, Warner Bros. acquired the rights to the franchise and went on to craft their own games.

EA’s habit of canceling popular franchises

Another Dead Space game isn’t coming anytime soon. (Image via EA)

It’s not the open-world Lord of the Rings game EA couldn’t make a reality; the studio failed to even bring a fourth Dead Space game. While the final entry in the sci-fi trilogy dropped in 2013, many in the community hoped to see another game after the 2023 remake.

In an

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with YouTuber Dan Allen Gaming, Glen Schofield, the mind behind the Dead Space series, stated that he pitched Dead Space 4 to EA alongside Bret Robbins and Christopher Stone, who contributed to the first game.

However, nothing came to fruition because EA wasn’t interested in making a Dead Space 4. The developers didn’t say whether the company could make something happen in the future, but they realized where EA was coming from.

The gaming industry isn’t really in a good position right now. EA itself faced a round of layoffs, with more than 670 people leaving the company. Making more Dead Space games when its latest remakes didn’t perform that well might not be the best idea.

It’s sad that EA has missed out on big franchises such as Lord of the Rings and Dead Space. Let’s hope the company can treat its current IPs in a better manner and give gamers what they’ve been requesting.

With that said, do you think EA’s Lord of the Rings game had the potential to battle Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls franchise? Let us know in the comments below.

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