Aspyr is bringing back more classic Lord of the Rings games after War in the North Legacy Edition

Aspyr Media shadowdropped a Legacy Edition of the 2011 action RPG The Lord of the Rings: War in the North earlier this week, and the studio has confirmed it won't stop there — more classic Lord of the Rings re-releases are on the way, though no specific titles or dates have been announced.

War in the North Legacy Edition launched under a licensing deal with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and is Aspyr's first Lord of the Rings release. The studio confirmed "even more classic releases" from the series are coming "in the future," leaving plenty of room for speculation. The WBIE era alone produced several candidates: Aragorn's Quest (2010), Guardians of Middle-earth (2012), Lego The Lord of the Rings (2012), and Lego The Hobbit (2014). Go back further and there's the EA era — The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth (2004), its 2006 sequel, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest (2009), and the film tie-in games based on Peter Jackson's trilogy.

Aspyr has built a reputation as a go-to studio for classic game re-releases, having previously handled ports and remasters of older Star Wars titles for Lucasfilm Games. Bringing that same approach to the Lord of the Rings back catalog makes sense given how many of those games have been stuck in licensing limbo for years — Battle for Middle-earth in particular has been essentially unplayable through official channels for over a decade.

Meanwhile, the broader Lord of the Rings gaming landscape is heating up on the new release side too. Warhorse Studios — the team behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance — is developing a "deeply immersive" Lord of the Rings RPG, and Crystal Dynamics, known for Tomb Raider, is reportedly working on one as well. Between the re-releases and the new projects, Middle-earth is having something of a gaming renaissance.