Embracer Group has acquired the licensing rights for Lord of the Rings which has some big implications for miniatures!
Embracer recently acquired Asmodee Group and Dark Horse, which are giant companies on their own, but this is a deal on a whole new level. They have now acquired all the intellectual and licensing rights for the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (publishing will still have to be approved by the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins).
So, in essence, that gives them all the rights to licensese miniatures, movies, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks, and stage productions.
Asmodee Parent Company Gets Licensing Rights for LotR!
The sale process was initiated earlier this year, and guesses were the rights would go for $2 billion (about the same Asmodee was sold to Embracer for), but the actual amount hasn’t been announced.
So, while Embracer Group having the rights might mean more movies and shows coming out based on the core works (and a planned release of the animated feature The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim in 2024), for tabletop gamers, the biggest thing is they now have the licensing rights for the miniatures as well.
It will be very interesting when the LoTR license comes back up for renewal with Games Workshop, as Asmodee can just as well produce miniatures through their Atomic Mass Games studio too now.
Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors did potentially foreshadow future licensing deals via Asmodee and or Games Workshop in the announcement:
Asmodee Group had been a successful licensee of the rights, producing over a dozen games with over 100 expansions in the past 20 years. Future plans include both further use of the rights by Embracer Group companies and external licenses.
They do mention external licenses, so the fate of LotR miniatures may still hang in the balance, and we’ll have to see what direction this takes in the future.
Either way, the future of miniature rights for Middle Earth could get very interesting very soon.
Who do you think will get the rights to produce Lord of the Rings miniatures in the future?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
