Pandemic forging new Lord of the Rings game

Yesterday's headlines were dominated by a fusillade of announcements from Electronic Arts following the publisher's meeting with investors. During the event, EA CEO John Riccitiello gave a presentation and talked about his company's future strategy. Besides revealing some optimistic financial projections and new game titles, the executive put up a slide to reveal that Pandemic Studios, the critically acclaimed shop behind Full Spectrum Warrior and the forthcoming Mercenaries 2, is working on a game based on the Lord of the Rings films.

But, while the slide clearly indicates Pandemic is working on a LOTR game, it is unclear exactly what game it is. Earlier in the presentation, Riccitiello repeated the news that a new title in the franchise--which EA renewed its license to last year--will ship during its next fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2009.

A rep for Pandemic confirmed to GameSpot that the studio is crafting a new title set in film director Peter Jackson's vision of author J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. However he couldn't confirm much more, saying only "Pandemic Studios will have more to reveal on this project in the very near future."