LOTRO: The State of the Game in Late 2025
Kingdoms of Harad, the 13th expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, was released today. Highlighting developer’s Standing Stone Games continuing commitment to this eighteen year old game. As 2025 draws to a close, I thought it would be prudent to reflect upon the current state of LOTRO and to consider what may come next year. Two words that I associated with this MMO are stable and consistent. The playerbase is loyal and dependable. Player numbers never greatly decline nor do they notably expand. LOTRO fills a very specific gaming niche and one of the reasons it retains its players is that there is no suitable alternative game. Although there is not a great deal of data in the public domain, it is generally accepted that LOTRO has an older player demographic and that many are consummate Tolkien fans.
Kingdoms of Harad, the 13th expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, was released today. Highlighting developer’s Standing Stone Games continuing commitment to this eighteen year old game. As 2025 draws to a close, I thought it would be prudent to reflect upon the current state of LOTRO and to consider what may come next year. Two words that I associated with this MMO are stable and consistent. The playerbase is loyal and dependable. Player numbers never greatly decline nor do they notably expand. LOTRO fills a very specific gaming niche and one of the reasons it retains its players is that there is no suitable alternative game. Although there is not a great deal of data in the public domain, it is generally accepted that LOTRO has an older player demographic and that many are consummate Tolkien fans.
This is the third expansion for the game that is set in the South of Middle-earth. Although many aspects of the MMO remain consistently good, such as the story telling and character development, I personally haven’t warmed to this area. Umbar, Harad and Khand are not especially detailed regions within Tolkien’s writing. I feel that the game developers have drawn too much from a stereotypical depiction of Middle-eastern culture. The sort you see in Western pop culture depictions of Sinbad and Ali Baba. For me it is an incongruous contrast to the established regions of Middle-earth. I’d rather these areas had just remained alluded to within the game, the same way they are in the Legendarium. However, what I am describing is a matter of taste. I’m sure there are LOTRO players who feel the opposite.
The latest expansion sees an increase in the level cap from 150 to 160. Thus there will be a need to replace all your existing jewellery, weapons and armour equipped on your alts. It may feel somewhat arbitrary but levelling remains an important element to many players, as does the gear treadmill. No doubt there will be an increase in the virtue traits level cap, so there is plenty to work towards over the month ahead. The expansion will at some point include new raids and instances but these really are a niche requirement and only a nominal amount of players playthrough such content. There are no new classes or races and Kingdoms of Harad does not include any new systems or mechanics. However, this should come as no surprise as SSG tends to work within established confines.
The most significant event for LOTRO this year was the migration to 64-bit servers and the regional consolidation. The lag issue that has plagued this MMO for years has definitely improved but has not been totally eliminated. The main issue that SSG faces is a knowledge gap, as the majority of staff that built the game have gone. It’s not a case of SSG not wanting to fix issues but the fact that they can’t. Hence the game still cannot adequately support 2K and 4K gaming. It is the main reason why LOTRO always gets “more of the same”. Quests, instances and missions are known quantities. More ambitious projects such as overhauling the deed log have proven far harder. There is also a long list of issues that SSG have said that they will “look into” that remain outstanding. Standardising event or faction based barter currency is one example. Removing outdated systems from the HUD being another.
If you pay attention to the press releases from the business side of the Daybreak Game Company, it is clear that LOTRO is financially sustainable within its existing parameters. It has a stable playerbase and yields a sufficient ROI to keep moving forward. However, it was made clear by CEO Ji Ham that the much touted graphics upgrade and console version of the game would not go ahead because of the cost. He stated that they could get a new game for the price. LOTRO players have conjectured whether the cancellation of Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings based MMO, will have an impact upon LOTRO. Could it mean further investment? I think not. The video game industry is contracting at present and is extremely risk averse. LOTRO continues because it generates sufficient revenue within its operational parameters. It is not seen, in business terms, as anything more than the sum of its parts.
LOTRO players have a strong emotional attachment to the game. I also believe that the developers SSG do the best with the budgets and resources they have to work with. However, I think that it is unrealistic to expect anything more from this vintage MMO other than what it currently offers. I believe I said exactly the same thing 3 or 4 years ago in a similar post. Hence, for me the most sensible thing to do going into 2026 is be content that LOTRO still endures. At some point in the New Year a roadmap for the next twelve months will be published, although I don’t expect any surprises. A year-long content schedule will be sufficient to keep me happy. Anything else is a bonus. Due to the tumultuous nature of the video game industry at present, perhaps it isn’t wise to look any further ahead. The road may not go “ever on and on” forever.
LOTRO: What You See Is What You Get
As many of us suspected, the proposed “remaster” of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online has been formally cancelled. Daybreak boss Ji Ham touched upon this project in EG7’s latest investors pitch video and stated that the proposal was a poor return on investment. The estimated cost of $30 million could well be spent more effectively elsewhere, possibly the development of new games. As a console release of LOTRO would be dependent upon a remaster, I think it is safe to say that idea is similarly no longer an ongoing concern. Sadly, it would appear that all the ideas regarding LOTRO that were floated during Robin Flodin’s tenure as EG7 CEO, have now all been quashed. It will be interesting to see if developers Standing Stone Games push ahead with support for 4K gaming and revisions to the game’s GUI or whether that also will be abandoned.
As many of us suspected, the proposed “remaster” of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online has been formally cancelled. Daybreak boss Ji Ham touched upon this project in EG7’s latest investors pitch video and stated that the proposal was a poor return on investment. The estimated cost of $30 million could well be spent more effectively elsewhere, possibly the development of new games. As a console release of LOTRO would be dependent upon a remaster, I think it is safe to say that idea is similarly no longer an ongoing concern. Sadly, it would appear that all the ideas regarding LOTRO that were floated during Robin Flodin’s tenure as EG7 CEO, have now all been quashed. It will be interesting to see if developers Standing Stone Games push ahead with support for 4K gaming and revisions to the game’s GUI or whether that also will be abandoned.
16 years on from its launch LOTRO remains a money-making concern due to its relatively stable playerbase. The licensing arrangement is as secure as it can be and so the game continues. There is an ebb and flow to player engagement with LOTRO, usually centred around the release of new content. The release of Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power certainly produced a spike in activity around the MMO. This will no doubt happen again when the next update is released. However, LOTRO appears to have a finite capacity to yield revenue and as a result of this fiscal limitation, it would appear that Daybreak has no interest investing any further in the game. Hence the scope of future development for LOTRO is fixed. The MMO will continue to get new updates, expansions and monetised content. But there will not be anything outside of existing parameters.
Having played LOTRO since 2008, the game has changed significantly over the years. It has tried to embrace some of the attributes of modern MMOs and that has not been to everyone's liking. However, the loyal, steadfast, playerbase yields sufficient revenue to keep the lights on. It reminds me of a popular TV show that maintains an audience and so gets continued funding but never enough to break out of its creative lane. The steady release of new story content, new classes and races is sufficient to keep loyalists engaged. But the “more of the same” business model is also the reason why a percentage of players leave. New players arrive to find a dated game that offers a huge amount of old school, progressive, narrative content that they need to catch up on. However, it is clear now that this is the way LOTRO is going to be until the servers are closed. These are the terms that you play the game.
LOTRO: What is Going On?
For the last three years developers Standing Stone Games have followed a twelve monthly expansion schedule for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. Sadly that has not been the case this year. All we had so far in 2022 is two generic new zones that offer “same meat, different gravy” content. Both Update 32: Rangers and Ruin and Update 33: Yondershire, although enjoyable, have not brought anything substantially different to the game. A further small release, Update 33.1 The Further Adventures of Elladan and Elrohir, went live on Tuesday 19th July offering 5 new themed missions. To say that they are lacklustre is being generous. All of which raises the question, what is going on? 18 months ago there appeared to be a LOTRO renaissance after the game was acquired by EG7. Is the lack of an expansion this year an indication that things have changed and not for the better?
For the last three years developers Standing Stone Games have followed a twelve monthly expansion schedule for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. Sadly that has not been the case this year. All we had so far in 2022 is two generic new zones that offer “same meat, different gravy” content. Both Update 32: Rangers and Ruin and Update 33: Yondershire, although enjoyable, have not brought anything substantially different to the game. A further small release, Update 33.1 The Further Adventures of Elladan and Elrohir, went live on Tuesday 19th July offering 5 new themed missions. To say that they are lacklustre is being generous. All of which raises the question, what is going on? 18 months ago there appeared to be a LOTRO renaissance after the game was acquired by EG7. Is the lack of an expansion this year an indication that things have changed and not for the better?
Two developments have occurred recently that may shed some light on the matter. The first being the recent departure of producer Oleg Brodskiy (AKA Raninia) from SSG after just one year. He was brought in to work with the executive producer to facilitate change and streamline the business model. During that time a lot of older, chargeable game content was integrated into the free to play business model. Oleg was also far more accessible than other staff at SSG and certainly happy to talk about the game. However, coming from a mobile gaming background he may have been behind the release of the supporter packs that accompanied the latest patch. These are cosmetic bundles of the kind that usually accompany the various different tiers of an expansion pack. It will be interesting to see how they’re received. However, no explanation has been forthcoming as to why Oleg Brodskiy has moved on, apart from a vague comment about an “incredible opportunity”.
Secondly, there are the interesting internal politics of Enad Global 7. The company purchased Daybreak Game Company and its portfolio in December 2020. It subsequently became apparent that DGC was not just the publisher for Standing Stone Games but in fact their owner. EG7 appeared to have plans for LOTRO as the game had at the time 108,000 active players, of which 37.9% (41,000) subscribed generating nearly $10 million per year. Yearly revenue was $26.7 million making LOTRO the third-biggest playerbase out of DGC’s (now EG7’s) game portfolio. Circa March 2021, then CEO of EG7 Robin Flodin spoke positively about developing the newly acquired titles, fueling further speculation about a console version of LOTRO and a new game engine, which were previously mentioned in an investor briefing. However, Robin Flodin stepped down as CEO, five month later after a poorly received press interview. This paved the way for Ji Ham of Daybreak to take the reins as temporary CEO. In May this year Flodin sold his shares in EG7 changing the dynamics of the company as majority ownership effectively became controlled by senior DGC staff.
If you’re interested in more detail of this potential “reverse acquisition” then Wilhelm Arcturus has written a detailed post on his blog, The Ancient Gaming Noob. Obviously a lot of detail regarding corporate machinations doesn’t make it into the public domain but it’s hard not to speculate that the departure of Oleg Brodskiy and the changes within EG7 as well as DGC indicate that something is afoot behind the scenes with LOTRO. If the people who previously drove LOTROs development are back in control it doesn’t bode well for such ambitious plans as a console port or a revised game engine. Furthermore, I cannot see the new Amazon Prime show, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, getting released without some sort of gaming tie-in or related product. Is there another product waiting in the wings that may undermine LOTRO? Either way, after three consecutive expansions it is a little worrying that a successful formula should end so abruptly.
Finally, I return to the matter of the recently announced private LOTRO server Echoes of Angmar. If you do a little digging around online it appears that those involved with the project seem very well versed in the intricacies of the 15 year old MMORPG. Are these people who were directly or indirectly associated with the game at launch? The somewhat open manner in which this “rogue” server is being referred to seems to imply that those managing the project are not worried by the prospect of legal reprisals. This may be naivety but I’m not so sure. Is the timing of this independent project based upon something that LOTRO players don’t know about? Also, apart from the lack of an expansion there are still a lot of technical issues plaguing the MMO. The GUI still doesn’t support modern screen resolutions and the perennial issue of lag is a blight. I worry that the second coming of LOTRO so many hoped for, may have stalled before it even started and that as per usual, the player base will be the last to know.
EG7 to Consolidate All Titles on its 4Game Platform
EG7 is very slick when it comes to corporate communications. Earlier today the company posted their Q1 Report Presentation and Q&A on YouTube. Although specifically designed for the company’s investors, CEO Robin Flodin stated that he was aware that many gamers watch these presentations and are welcome. However, he did point out that any major game related news would always come via their appropriate outlets, thus making it clear that there was not any consumer information in his briefing. He then went on to discuss how well EG7 was faring financially and even to the layperson, it is clear that the company did very well last year. However, there were two nuggets of information that were interesting from a gamer’s perspective. The first was that EG7 is going to consolidate all of its games on their current 4game platform. The second was that the company was developing a new AAA MMO linked to a major intellectual property.
EG7 is very slick when it comes to corporate communications. Earlier today the company posted their Q1 Report Presentation and Q&A on YouTube. Although specifically designed for the company’s investors, CEO Robin Flodin stated that he was aware that many gamers watch these presentations and are welcome. However, he did point out that any major game related news would always come via their appropriate outlets, thus making it clear that there was not any consumer information in his briefing. He then went on to discuss how well EG7 was faring financially and even to the layperson, it is clear that the company did very well last year. However, there were two nuggets of information that were interesting from a gamer’s perspective. The first was that EG7 is going to consolidate all of its games on their current 4game platform. The second was that the company was developing a new AAA MMO linked to a major intellectual property.
For those who may not be aware, most game publishers have a bespoke platform that allows customers to install and manage all the titles that the company produces. Activision Blizzard has Battle.net, EA has Origins, Ubisoft has Uplay and Good Old Games has Galaxy. Then there are the big digital stores such as Steam and Epic Games which similarly have their own “launchers” as they are known. So it makes sense the EG7 is to add all the titles it acquired when it bought the Daybreak Game Company. When and how this change will happen is not yet known. Will players be required to reinstall LOTRO or DDO also remains to be seen. However, Standing Stone Games’ existing launcher for LOTRO is dated and painfully slow. The other advantages of consolidating all products on a single platform are more effective marketing and dissemination of information. As and when LOTRO is added to 4games, it may well lead to an influx of new players.
The news of an AAA MMO being developed is very intriguing although somewhat vague. Robin Flodin referred to it being based upon “one of the greatest brands in the world”. Whether he was referring to franchises that EG7 already hold or something that they’ve recently acquired is a matter for speculation. As fellow blogger Wilhelm Arcturus pointed out in his post, Daybreak currently has a license for a Marvel game. Or has the recent closure of Amazon Game Studios Middle-earth based MMO, cleared the way for another? Are EG7 considering a LOTRO 2.0 or something similar? Whatever the outcome, things have certainly gotten a lot more interesting since the company acquired DGC. In the meantime let us see how both these two items of news are received by the LOTRO community. The consolidation of LOTRO, DDO and other titles onto the 4games launcher is an especially interesting development and needs to be handled well.
LOTRO: EG7 Community Update
Last December EG7 announced that it had purchased Daybreak Game Company and its portfolio. It subsequently became apparent that DGC was not just the publisher for Standing Stone Games but in fact their owner. Something that many players had suspected for a while. After an investor briefing was published, it became clear that EG7 were not just another corporate body out to asset strip and make a fast buck but were in fact genuinely interested in growing and improving the games that they now owned. For players of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, a wave of cautious optimism spread throughout the community. Hints at a graphical overhaul for the game and a potential console conversion were well received. Further news and specific details have been eagerly anticipated.
Last December EG7 announced that it had purchased Daybreak Game Company and its portfolio. It subsequently became apparent that DGC was not just the publisher for Standing Stone Games but in fact their owner. Something that many players had suspected for a while. After an investor briefing was published, it became clear that EG7 were not just another corporate body out to asset strip and make a fast buck but were in fact genuinely interested in growing and improving the games that they now owned. For players of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, a wave of cautious optimism spread throughout the community. Hints at a graphical overhaul for the game and a potential console conversion were well received. Further news and specific details have been eagerly anticipated.
Yesterday, EG7 published a press release as well as a YouTube video, in which CEO Robin Flodin discusses what the company has been doing for the last 4 month in relation to its current portfolio of games. The written statement is somewhat broad in its scope and conciliatory in its tone. Robin Flodin uses a lot of management speak. That is not necessarily a bad thing. We all use the terminology of the industry that we work in. However, it is far from vague and does indicate how EG7 see their role and what their future remit is. “Many of these games, while successful and continually supported, have had their unique challenges. Many of these challenges are long standing and important, but due to their scope or other situations, haven’t been feasible to address. All of us want this to change”. He then further states “I want to assure you that this effort is a priority for me, EG7, and Daybreak. We have been listening to the community feedback and to all of your questions and concerns. This is an ongoing effort and as we make progress, the goal is to develop specific plans to create an even better game experience for all of our players”.
The video is a little more specific and proves illuminating as to the company’s policy and approach. Here Robin Flodin makes some direct comments about the company's intent. “We’re trying to make these companies better. We’re trying to help them improve in areas where we think we can create value”. He admits where they feel DGC has gone wrong which is a candid and unexpected statement of fact. He references mistakes made with the handling of H1Z1 and Planetside 2 and it would appear that the code for H1Z1 is currently being audited to see what can be done with it. Possibilities range from revamping the game and rolling it back to the iteration players liked best or to repurpose the code into another title. This is an interesting development because it shows that EG7 are not just going to arbitrarily dismiss and close games that they own. It would appear that they have a far more long term business mindset than DGC.
So what does this mean for LOTRO? Well both these statements, although not specific to the game, do inspire a degree of hope. It seems to me that EG7 see themselves as troubleshooters and facilitators who wish to invest, encourage and empower the various companies that develop their portfolio of games. The idea seems to be to foster improvement and growth, based on consumer feedback. If we are to take such policies at face value, the I think the most practical thing to do is to give EG7 a year and see if there are any noticeable changes. With regard to LOTRO let us see if they can encourage Standing Stone Games to be more innovative. I don't expect to see any major change in content design immediately but it is not unreasonable to expect a wider discussion about future development and an improvement in community relations from SSG.
EG7 doesn't strike me as corporate pirates. They seem to want to improve the titles they own and keep both customers and their investors happy. However, their position is very much one of enabling and supporting the existing developers. This approach is fine if the only previous problems a developer has experienced were a lack of funding and confidence from their owners. What concerns me with regard to encouraging and enabling SSG, is that they don’t strike me as being the most imaginative thinkers at senior level and appear to be somewhat entrenched in their views. Therefore there is still potential that they may steer LOTRO off a cliff if left unchecked. Perhaps what SSG requires is an injection of fresh talent and for LOTRO to be put in the hands of those who have a more aspirational view of its future potential. As ever, only time will tell but it is pleasant to have some hope in the interim.
LOTRO, Daybreak Game Company and Enad Global 7
It has long been suspected that Daybreak Game Company owned Standing Stone Games and was more than just their publisher. However, being a private company, DGC has been exempt from public scrutiny. Infact, they’ve gone out of their way to keep their cards close to their chest in recent years. Press releases and tweets have been posted and then deleted to try and cover their tracks. To quote Lord Melchett from Blackadder, DGC “twist and turn like a ... twisty-turny thing”. It’s all been somewhat unseemly but at the same time great fun to speculate about. However, on Monday 1st December, Swedish games company Enad Global 7 (EG7) announced that they were buying DGC. Furthermore, as EG7 are a publicly owned company, information about them is freely available. Hence an investor presentation was posted on their website, rich with details of their new acquisition.
It has long been suspected that Daybreak Game Company owned Standing Stone Games and was more than just their publisher. However, being a private company, DGC has been exempt from public scrutiny. Infact, they’ve gone out of their way to keep their cards close to their chest in recent years. Press releases and tweets have been posted and then deleted to try and cover their tracks. To quote Lord Melchett from Blackadder, DGC “twist and turn like a ... twisty-turny thing”. It’s all been somewhat unseemly but at the same time great fun to speculate about. However, on Monday 1st December, Swedish games company Enad Global 7 (EG7) announced that they were buying DGC. Furthermore, as EG7 are a publicly owned company, information about them is freely available. Hence an investor presentation was posted on their website, rich with details of their new acquisition.
Now the foibles and machinations of DGC have become a source of interest for numerous game journalists and bloggers over the years. I therefore strongly recommend the following articles by Bree Royce and Wilhelm Arcturus, as they dissect and delineate the information published in EG7’s investor presentation. Both make for very interesting reading, giving details of the “health and wealth” of the various titles that have been up to now, owned by DGC. I however, will simply focus on the details pertaining to The Lord of the Rings Online, as this is the MMORPG I have the strongest connection to out of all the games listed. Finally, we have some indication of LOTRO’s business performance and its playerbase. In terms of monthly active players, the game has 108,000, of which 37.9% (41,000) subscribe generating nearly $10 million per year. Overall, yearly revenue is $26.7 million. LOTRO has the third-biggest playerbase out of DGC’s (now EG7’s) game portfolio.
So business wise, LOTRO is looking quite healthy. Furthermore, the forthcoming Amazon Prime, Middle-earth based TV show is being cited by EG7 as a potential means of raising consumer awareness of the IP. Something that can then be capitalised upon to promote LOTRO. Any sort of proactive marketing has long been absent from this MMO. Many players were baffled by the lack of any tie-in with the Hobbit movie trilogy, when they were released. Perhaps we will now see a change in policy over the next 12 months. It certainly seems that EG7 has provisional plans. Perhaps the most interesting of these is a proposed graphical and systems overhaul of the current PC version of LOTRO, along with further large content updates and a conversion of the game for “nextgen consoles”. Something that was originally mooted back in 2010, when the game first went free-to-play.
The significance of a console port of LOTRO should not be underestimated. The data in EG7’s investor presentation shows that the console version of DC Universe Online is a popular title and a robust source of revenue. Let us not forget that The Elder Scrolls Online, Neverwinter and Star Trek Online have all increased their players due to the success of their respective console ports. In fact the innovative revision of the UI in STO to accommodate the use of game controllers, actually offers greater functionality than the PC version. LOTRO suffers from a cluttered UI and an excess of quickslots and at present this can only be addressed with plugins. Therefore, a revision of the game may well prove beneficial to all players. Whether the game will support crossplay is another matter. However, I would like to see a console port of LOTRO made available as it would definitely bring new players to the game and re-invigorate the existing community. Let us see whether EG7 proves to be the “new broom that sweeps clean”.
Financing LOTRO
Back in December 2008, I bought a “compilation pack” that contained both the The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadow of Angmar base game, along with the newly released Mines of Moria expansion. I paid £20 for the lot. After the obligatory free months access, I then became a regular subscriber right up until about summer 2012. Since then I’ve subscribed and played whenever new content is released, meaning that for about six months of the year, I’m paying for the “luxury” of playing LOTRO. I’ve also purchased all the expansions over the years. Because I enjoy the game, I am not averse to buying additional LOTRO points when my monthly stipend doesn’t cover the cost of the items I want. I never availed myself of the opportunity to become a lifetime account holder, which is something I regret. It certainly would have been very good value for money, considering that LOTRO is over a decade old.
Back in December 2008, I bought a “compilation pack” that contained both the The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadow of Angmar base game, along with the newly released Mines of Moria expansion. I paid £20 for the lot. After the obligatory free months access, I then became a regular subscriber right up until about summer 2012. Since then I’ve subscribed and played whenever new content is released, meaning that for about six months of the year, I’m paying for the “luxury” of playing LOTRO. I’ve also purchased all the expansions over the years. Because I enjoy the game, I am not averse to buying additional LOTRO points when my monthly stipend doesn’t cover the cost of the items I want. I never availed myself of the opportunity to become a lifetime account holder, which is something I regret. It certainly would have been very good value for money, considering that LOTRO is over a decade old.
Although F2P games offer the benefit of reaching a wider market, I do believe that the business model is troublesome and causes more problems than it solves. Lootboxes similarly can break a game, as content is retrofitted to accommodate monetisation, rather than serve the exclusive needs of the customer. The monetisation per se of the gaming industry remains a perennial debate and one that is not going to be solved anytime soon to every one’s satisfaction. It is certainly a matter that is causing Standing Stone Games to tie themselves in knot at present. Lootboxes have been present in LOTRO for a while but they were never integral to progression through the game until the release of the Mordor expansion. Let it suffice to say that there has been a great deal of player push back against this decision and that SSG have been trying to address this matter in Update 23, which is due for release soon. However, the current proposals are complex and are very much a work in progress. They also seem to be causing a great deal of consternation among players.
I won’t attempt to summarise the latest “plan” at present as it’s being continuously “revised”. If you’re feeling stoic, then read the current thread on the official forums and you’ll see how difficult this matter is to sort out. However, I think the overall problem comes down to a fundamental difference in outlook over the financing of LOTRO, between the players, the publishers and lastly the developers SSG. LOTRO has a mature playerbase. A hardcore of thirty to fifty plus year olds, who all cut their teeth in an era where game monetisation was clear. You bought a game and paid for any additional expansions. In the MMO world, you bought the base game and subscribed. It was a simple “quid pro quo”. You paid money and got content. However, microtransactions, in-game currencies, season passes, paid DLC, lootboxes and “live services” have evolved over the last decade or so and have migrated from the mobile games market, over to console and PC gaming. Younger players who have grown up with mobile games has become “acclimatised” to such business practices. LOTRO players by and large don’t care for them.
And therein lies the rub for SSG or more to the point, their financial backers Daybreak Game Company. I suspect that there are financial targets set for LOTRO each quarter and that these are proving “challenging”. Because of the dedicated nature of many core LOTRO players it would appear that there are significant whales in the community. Yet it is the nature of the current games industry to seek whatever revenue that can possibly be generated and that the fate of a game will often come down to whether or not it yields the financial projections. Hence it become extremely difficult for SSG to find the right balance. Simply removing loot boxes and the LOTRO store from the game is not going to happen. The game is just too heavily dependent upon that business model. Some players have suggested cutting out the “middle man” of loot boxes and keys and just have a store where you buy everything that is offered. Sadly, whatever course of action is taken, it is bound to please one group and offend another. However, gating content or progression in LOTRO behind some kind of pay mechanic could well prove to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. But I’m sure SSG knows this, so it will be interesting to see what compromise they arrive at by the time Update 23 launches.
LOTRO and Daybreak Game Company
Over the past eleven years The Lord of the Rings Online has faced many business-related issues that has prompted its player base to speculate over the games future. These include the MMOs transition from a subscription to a free to play service, Turbine’s acquisition by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and then there were the issues with the license expiration in 2017. However, all these problems were resolved in one way or another and the game endures. That is not to say that Turbine or Standing Stone Games (SSG) are business geniuses. Absolutely not. They’ve made plenty of mistakes over the years and continue to regularly shoot themselves in the foot with their community relations. LOTRO survives because of its core playerbase who have made this virtual Middle-earth their home and they support the game come hell or high water. A lot of this core group are fully aware of SSGs shortcomings, but they are wedded to this game and hence they sustain it. It’s a curious yet fascinating symbiotic relationship.
Over the past eleven years The Lord of the Rings Online has faced many business-related issues that has prompted its player base to speculate over the games future. These include the MMOs transition from a subscription to a free to play service, Turbine’s acquisition by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and then there were the issues with the license expiration in 2017. However, all these problems were resolved in one way or another and the game endures. That is not to say that Turbine or Standing Stone Games (SSG) are business geniuses. Absolutely not. They’ve made plenty of mistakes over the years and continue to regularly shoot themselves in the foot with their community relations. LOTRO survives because of its core playerbase who have made this virtual Middle-earth their home and they support the game come hell or high water. A lot of this core group are fully aware of SSGs shortcomings, but they are wedded to this game and hence they sustain it. It’s a curious yet fascinating symbiotic relationship.
Two days ago, Massively Overpowered reported on an interesting situation that has potential to impact upon LOTRO (and DDO) as it is to do with SSGs current “publisher” Daybreak Game Company (DGC). On April 6th, the U.S. Department of the Treasury commenced the freezing of assets of several Russian businesses because of alleged “destabilizing activities” such as interference in the 2016 U.S. election. This includes Viktor Vekselberg, who owns the Renova Group conglomerate along with its subsidiary, Columbus Nova. Columbus Nova, is the parent company of DGC. Renova has until June 5th to “wind down operations, contracts, or other agreements” according to The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control. Approximately $1.5 and $2 billion assets from Vekselberg have been frozen because of these sanctions. It now remains to be seen whether this process extends to Columbus Nova’s assets and DGC. At present, DGC is trying to distance itself from Columbus Nova. Tweets and press releases are being deleted and Wikipedia entries are being “edited”. Yesterday, DGC’s Chief Publishing Officer and former Senior Vice President, Laura Naviaux, announced she’s left the company.
Naturally, those who play EverQuest II and PlanetSide 2 are “concerned” as to whether this situation will impact upon these games as they are owned by DGC. Which then brings us back to the LOTRO community. It has naturally got wind of the situation and players are asking SSG for clarification on the games official forums. Naturally, SSG are being tight lipped about the matter using marketing speak to brush concerns aside. Putting the potential gravity of the situation aside for the moment, most businesses are smart enough to keep details of their internal machinations behind close door, so it’s highly unlikely the current community manager Jerry “Cordovan” Snook, is going to go public and spill the beans as to what’s going on. Some players are adamant that DGC is simply SSGs publisher and even if there is a problem, it’s just a case of finding a new one. Certainly, on paper DGC is SSGs publisher and further details about the business relationship between the two is not clear. However, history doesn’t always favour the “wait and see” approach and there is nothing wrong with some intelligent and measured speculative analysis of the situation.
The potential for this matter to affect LOTRO depends on two key factors. First off, is DGC directly linked to Columbus Nova and therefore at risk of having its business assets frozen? This is ultimately one for the lawyers to decide but it is curious that DGC’s Chief Publishing Officer has chosen now as a time to make a career move. It could be coincidence. If further senior staff resign, then perhaps that may be a clearer indication that the company is at risk. There is also plenty of company information in the public domain these days that allows even the layman to remain informed. If we see any movement of corporate assets to outside of the US, then again it may be a clear indication that DGC is subject to The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The second point to consider is the exact nature of SSGs relationship with DGC. Many games journalists and gaming community commentators have suspected right from the outset, that DGC was more than just a publisher for SSG and that they bankrolled their entire extraction from Turbine/Warner Bros. in late 2016. In a recent interview with with Jean "Druidsfire" Prior for MMO central, LOTRO Executive Producer Rob Ciccolini AKA Severlin stated that Jake Emert is his direct boss. Emert is CEO Daybreak Game Company Austin Texas Studio. Such a statement certainly puts DGCs status with SSG in a different light. When you consider the whole matter of how staff from Turbine set up their own company, then bought the rights for DDO and LOTRO, as well as the infrastructure and then settled all associated legalities, it must have taken a substantial amount of capital. I am not aware of SSG having raised that money themselves, which therefore means there must have been a major investor involved. It is not unreasonable to suggest that DGC was and remains that investor.
If both of these points are correct and that DGC underwrites SSG and is in imminent danger of having its assets frozen, then there is scope for problems in the weeks to come. And it is at this point that there is less data available to speculate upon. What exactly would be the consequences of removing DGC from SSGs business plan. How easy would it be to find a replacement investor? Would there be a one who was interested and readily available? Would there be a disruption of service to both LOTRO or DDO or would it be worse than that? Or are there caveats in the fedral asset freezing regulations to prevent collateral damage such as this hypothetical scenario? At present there is insufficient information for any of us to know definitively what is going on. However, if we reflect upon information that has emerged from former Codemasters employees about the business practices surrounding LOTRO, we can be assured that both the grass roots staff and the playerbase are always the last to know what is really going on. I’m sure in the meantime, LOTRO players will continue with their activities as usual and quite right to. It is however a worrying situation and it would be foolish to ignore the matter out of hand.
Landmark to Close on February 21st
It was announced yesterday by the Daybreak Game Company that the MMO Landmark will be closing on 21st of February. Landmark joins an ever-growing list of titles that have closed since DGC acquired SOEs back catalogue. As ever the press release does not give any specific details as to why the game is to be shutdown. However, it is more than likely down to operating costs versus profits. Furthermore, irrespective of the corporate reasons for the decision, there are still numbers of Landmark players who will be saddened by the news. This development is also of interest to LOTRO and DDO players, due to the Daybreak Game Company recently becoming the publisher of those titles.
It was announced yesterday by the Daybreak Game Company that the MMO Landmark will be closing on 21st of February. Landmark joins an ever-growing list of titles that have closed since DGC acquired SOEs back catalogue. As ever the press release does not give any specific details as to why the game is to be shutdown. However, it is more than likely down to operating costs versus profits. Furthermore, irrespective of the corporate reasons for the decision, there are still numbers of Landmark players who will be saddened by the news. This development is also of interest to LOTRO and DDO players, due to the Daybreak Game Company recently becoming the publisher of those titles.
Now if you peruse the comments section of a site such as Massively OP, then you’ll find statements such as “LOTRO is fine” and there’s nothing to be concerned about because DGC is just the publisher for Standing Stone Games. However, I don’t think the situation is as binary as that and it would be wise to scrutinise the business relationship between DGC and SSG more closely. Because I and others suspect that DGC may well have underwritten SSG costs, when they acquired both DDO and LOTRO from Turbine and Warner Bros. If that is the case, then such financial involvement give DGC far more leverage with SSG than merely publishing their gaming catalogue.
Too many gamers allow personal sentiment and affection for the games that they play to blind them to the realities of business. MMOs as I have said time and time again are not social services but products to be bought and sold for money. The moment any product doesn't meet the expectations its owners, then it's future is in question. I would have thought that was abundantly clear by the way Warner Bros. cut LOTRO and DDO loose, as they organise their balance sheet for their pending acquisition with AT&T. Why should the Daybreak Gaming Company, itself a subsidiary of a Russian venture capital company, view its assets any differently?
Game Developers often have the best of intentions for the products they make. Artistic vision and ethical practises may well be key to their business ethos. However, unless those that create have total financial and therefore legal control, then such noble aspirations can and are frequently side-lined. In my experience business is usually driven by those who control the purse strings, which once again returns me to the question of whether DGC are merely SSGs publisher or is there a more complex business relationship? Are LOTRO and DDO going to be measured by criteria set by their developers or someone else? If these games survival is dependent on targets set by DGC, then their future may not be as rosy as some like to think.
Standing Stone Games and LOTRO
To date one of LOTRO’s greatest weaknesses has been the way it’s been run and marketed. There are other flaws but these have been fully discussed over the years, so I see no reason to revisit them. Considering the games pedigree, the nine-year-old MMO has never reached its full potential but that is a criticism that can be levelled at many entries in this genre. In recent years LOTRO has limped forward, hobbled by an ever-diminishing development team and starved of resources by its corporate master. Yet because of the dedication of a core group of fans the game generates sufficient revenue to keep it from folding. Thus, despite continued predictions of closure from armchair experts such as myself, LOTRO endures, while other titles have sailed into the West.
To date one of LOTRO’s greatest weaknesses has been the way it’s been run and marketed. There are other flaws but these have been fully discussed over the years, so I see no reason to revisit them. Considering the games pedigree, the nine-year-old MMO has never reached its full potential but that is a criticism that can be levelled at many entries in this genre. In recent years LOTRO has limped forward, hobbled by an ever-diminishing development team and starved of resources by its corporate master. Yet because of the dedication of a core group of fans the game generates sufficient revenue to keep it from folding. Thus, despite continued predictions of closure from armchair experts such as myself, LOTRO endures, while other titles have sailed into the West.
Yesterday it was announced that Turbine would no longer be overseeing the development of LOTRO. In fact, the core team that has running both LOTRO and DDO over recent years, has formed their own new independent game studio called Standing Stone Games and have acquired both properties. Furthermore, Standing Stone Games have partnered with Daybreak Game Company who will provide global publishing services. Sundry press releases were made by both parties and a FAQ was posted to reassure existing customers of both MMOs. The separation process from Turbine and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is ongoing but already LOTRO has been patched to add the Standing Stone Games logo.
Now whether you are a die-hard LOTRO fan or a casually interested bystander (I’m somewhere between these two positions), this change raises a lot of questions. As ever a lot of the answers will only be known to those at the top of each respective company and will not be addressed publicly. However, common sense and a degree of deductive reasoning will probably furnish some answers. For example, it is reasonable to assume that the licensing issue has been addressed and that LOTRO has gained an extension and will not close in 2017. Middle Earth Enterprises may well have become more relaxed about licensing per se since the recent death of Saul Zaentz. I certainly can’t see any company embarking on such a transfer of ownership for a product that had less than a year to live.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment obviously didn’t see the need to hang on to LOTRO, which is hardly surprising as they’ve done precious little with the IP since they acquired Turbine in 2012. At the time, many LOTRO players envisaged a sizeable capital injection and an increase in game development but it never really happened. Warner’s were more than likely just acquiring studios and assets for licenses and patents. So, Standing Stone Games proposition was probably viewed as expedient and convenient. However, the most intriguing aspect of this transfer of ownership is the involvement of Daybreak Game Company. Their acquisition of SOE in early 2015 was surprise and their management of several online titles has been chequered to say the least. Exactly what impact (if any) will they have upon LOTRO?
As a publisher of an online game DGC will theoretically be responsible for things such as account systems, support services and server infrastructure. However, from what we’ve learned already it would appear that a lot of the existing facilities for LOTRO are to be maintained. However, there is the issue of the Turbine Store which no doubt will be quickly converted to reflect DGCs branding. Can we expect to see a change in the LOTROs monetisation policy? It’s very dependent upon Standing Stone Games relationship with Daybreak Game Company. As a new indie studio where did SSG get its funding. Is DGC bankrolling the development team? Or did they provide the capital for the game license which I’m sure did cost pocket change. If you follow the money you usually find out who calls the shots and that will surely impact upon the direction that LOTRO takes.
As ever with a change of this kind, speculation seems to be at both ends of the possible spectrum. LOTRO according to some is to enjoy some sort of renaissance and have a wealth of new content, or alternatively decline into lock box, money grab hell and be dead within six months. Realistically the truth is more than likely somewhere in the middle. Standing Stone Games is now in a better position to focus exclusively for content creation for both LOTRO and DDO without losing staff to other projects. If this transition is handled well then LOTRO can still deliver a modest and steady stream of revenue. DGC may well be pursuing a different endgame that is beyond LOTRO. Perhaps they have an eye on a longer-term relationship with SSG and future products. As ever only time will tell but in the meantime, it is wise to remain cautious. Perhaps this unseen news may even encourage some players to return to LOTRO. Either way my advice is to live in the present and enjoy LOTRO while you can.