Lord Of The Rings Online Releases The War Of The Three Peaks Expansion

Despite being well over a decade old, Middle-earth MMO Lord Of The Rings Online is still adding new content, progressing its post-War Of The Ring story through the Fourth Age. The next story to be told after the fall of Sauron is the War of the Three Peaks, with the Dwarf Prince Durin marching to reclaim the mountain stronghold of Gundabad.

The new expansion brings a new six-person Instance called Shakalush, the Stair Battle, as well as a new raid called Amdân Dammul, the Bloody Threshold. The War of the Three Peaks also introduces Missions, a new style of repeatable Instance for one or two players to grind for loot and other bonuses.

Fans of Middle-earth's cinematic adaptions may know Gundabad from Peter Jackson's 2014 film The Battle of the Five Armies, which saw Legolas and Tauriel storming the orc stronghold. The War of the Three Peaks' main antagonist is an Orc named Gorgar the Ruthless, who is the son of the Hobbit trilogy antagonist Bolg--though don't expect too much of a tie-in, as Lord of the Rings Online is based on the books, not the movies.

The standard War of the Three Peaks expansion pack is available as a $20 add-on, while more expensive bundles offer exclusive items and cosmetics including new boar mounts, armor, an inventory expansion, and more.

A new Lord Of The Rings MMO is in the works from Amazon's gaming division, though not much is yet known about the project. Amazon Game Studios has not had the best luck with its big projects. Most recently, it canceled development on the shooter Crucible after un-releasing the game back into a beta period. Amazon is also getting into Middle-earth through television, with an upcoming show now filming in New Zealand. New COVID cases in the country have shrunk dramatically, making it one of the (relatively) safe places to film during a pandemic. It's also where the original films were shot.