It would be impossible to argue that EA had done a bad job of its partnership with New Line and the Lord of the Rings films so far. The Two Towers and The Return of the King were shining examples of the handling of film licenses, if not the brightest instances, showing a commitment to the property's assets and the mirroring of the movies themselves in taking a full action stance. Everyone wants to be Ian McKellan in a huge beard with a death wish, don't they? It turned out they did. The games were huge successes, and rightly so.

But the films are no more, and now EA has to eke whatever it can from the remains of the day. The fair-weather action fans have had their fill. The obvious next step was role-playing and strategy. Role-playing comes first.