Dragon Age, new LOTR game due by April '09

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Feb 1, 2008 4:31 pm PT

EA reveals BioWare's long-in-development fantasy RPG, mystery Tolkien/Jackson-inspired title will arrive before the company's next fiscal year ends.

Buried in the passel of information in yesterday's Electronic Arts earnings announcement were two major news items for gamers with a penchant for fantasy. The first concerned Dragon Age, the all-new PC fantasy role-playing game announced in 2004 by BioWare, developer of Baldur's Gate, Jade Empire, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. The following year, the famed Canadian studio announced Mass Effect, its Xbox 360-exclusive sci-fi RPG that was released last year to rave reviews.

But while the platinum-selling Mass Effect has been at the center of BioWare's PR efforts, Dragon Age has been largely invisible since a series of showings in 2004. Then, late last year, BioWare cofounders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk said it was already playable, albeit in limited form. Luckily, yesterday's EA post-earnings call by BioWare's new owner confirmed the game remains on track, and will arrive sometime during its next fiscal year, which begins on April 1, 2008.

The EA call also brought welcome news for gamers who prefer more established pantheons of wizards, trolls, and orcs. As negotiations for the film version of The Hobbit drag on, the filmed version of the Lord of the Rings may be getting yet another game spin-off. Ten months after EA renewed its game license for the Rings films and 11 months after it put the open-world RPG The White Council on indefinite ice, CEO John Riccitello told analysts another game based on Peter Jackson's interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy world is en route. The unidentified title is set for release sometime in EA's 2009 fiscal year, although it is unclear if it is an all-new title or The White Council.

172 Comments

  • maxl16

    Posted Mar 16, 2009 4:31 pm PT

    HAs THere been any news on the white council because all igns and other news is from a year or 2 ago?

  • GodDemon

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 1:12 pm PT

    It won't be the white council, although that would be cool, I believe this game is something else.

    Oh well........But then again it may be. It must be something like the white council and it'll be something not to do with the movie.

    At least that's what I think.

  • BenBenBen93

    Posted Jan 24, 2009 1:35 pm PT

    Bioware didn't make Conquest you noobs or shall i say nobs. Its a New game and probably not white council because either give it a year in development for and open ended RPG it take Bethesda like 3 year to make and that is at least 3 years probably 4-5

  • alexkn64

    Posted Jan 16, 2009 10:14 pm PT

    Take it for what it's worth, but IGN has labeled it as canceled. I'm with you thought, I've wanted an opened ended RPG, ala the kind of RPG's Bioware is known for since I saw the first movie. It's a real heartbreak how this game was put on indefinite hiatus.

  • Artemios

    Posted Jan 15, 2009 10:35 am PT

    same question here..were they talking about conquest? or is White Council really gonna come out this year! Oh, I do hope it does!

    It's been what? 2, 3 years?

  • qwertyuopasdfgh

    Posted Jan 14, 2009 1:20 pm PT

    is the game coming out before april 09 going to be the white council or were they talking about conquest?

  • masterfarticus

    Posted Jan 11, 2009 12:12 pm PT

    I want The White Council so bad...

  • MandoWolf

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 7:56 pm PT

    What is it about? Sounds cool.

  • DanzigThrall

    Posted Sep 3, 2008 11:37 am PT

    hopefully the white council doesnt get cancelled like Marvel Online did

  • WakingZangetsu

    Posted Aug 27, 2008 11:55 pm PT

    i think it keeps getting put off but i dont think its cancelled yet. so whoo hoo cant wait

  • devil-neva-cry

    Posted Aug 26, 2008 1:48 am PT

    i heard that this game is cancalled............ hope thats just sum bullsh*t rumour

  • VXCOM

    Posted Jul 29, 2008 9:55 pm PT

    i hoped all of this gonna workout......and the games will be playable...and high hopes for The White Council....and EA-BioWare gonna make it happens...

  • drand24

    Posted Jul 28, 2008 2:01 pm PT

    *crosses fingers for the White Council*

  • tmacfan532

    Posted Jul 1, 2008 7:47 pm PT

    I think the Lotr game they're talking about is Conquest. But hopefully TWC is still in production.

  • division_9

    Posted Jun 21, 2008 7:42 am PT

    BioWare? dammit I had high hopes for this game. I wonder how much gamespot was payed to rank mass effect the best game on PC. II'll still buy White council since BioWare would be stupid to turn lord of the rings some sort of semi-nerd fantasy realm where everygirl has the biggest boobs in the galaxy and theres some secret subplot where you make love with a alien.

  • rammsteingamer

    Posted Jun 6, 2008 4:54 am PT

    BIOWARE leading this role-playing project ??? IT HAS GOT TO BE GREAT, these guys are just amazing, i´m really looking forward to see this game !!! Heads up

  • Septim007

    Posted May 17, 2008 11:50 am PT

    I desperately want The White Council to be made. Being a huge Lord of The Rings fan, that would be a dream come true. Seriously, don't they realise how much this would appeal to Tolkien fans and RPG lovers?
    MUST...HAVE...WHITE COUNCIL!!!!!(convulsive seizure)

  • Saerain

    Posted Apr 24, 2008 11:20 am PT

    Seeing that it is being developed by Pandemic, I strongly doubt that it is The White Council.

  • i_inferno

    Posted Apr 22, 2008 4:40 am PT

    I hope that it is LotR: TWC, it would be my wet dream. A LotR RPG to my home gaming console .
    Due to the short production time-line I think it is. To create a game from scratch in 10 months sounds very unlikely...

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