Codemasters secures LOTR MMO

Shadows of Angmar are set to fall across Europe, thanks to a deal announced today by Turbine, Inc. that will see the developer's PC massively multiplayer online Lord of the Rings game distributed and supported in the continent by Codemasters. The UK-based publisher is also handling European support for Turbine's Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach. Shadows of Angmar was originally announced as Middle-earth Online in 2003, and was at the time set to be published by VU Games. Last March, Turbine announced that it had acquired the rights to the game and was going to self-publish it, but the studio has since backed off of that goal, having enlisted Midway Games as a North American copublisher for the game. The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar is expected to see a North American release in May of this year.