Future Lord of the Rings games are set to get their own dedicated publisher following parent company Embracer's mass-studio closure amid $2 billion investment collapse

Lord of the Rings rights holder Middle-Earth Enterprises is set to become its own entity as parent company Embracer Group announces it's splitting into three separate companies.

On April 22, Embracer shared a press release detailing its plans to "transform into three standalone publicly listed entities." The three games and entertainment companies in question are Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends - which will all focus on different areas of the current business. 

According to the announcement, this decision will enable "each entity to better focus on their respective core strategies and offer more differentiated and distinct equity stories for existing and new shareholders." The press release also reveals that the three companies will be able to "unlock value in the high-quality assets of Embracer Group following the successful completion of the restructuring program."

In case you didn't know, Asmodee is a tabletop games publisher that Embracer acquired in December 2021, Coffee Stain is a developer and publisher specializing in indie and A/AA "premium and free-to-play games" (such as Goat Simulator) for PC and console, and Middle-Earth Enterprises is "the steward" of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings IPs (as well as the Tomb Raider IP soon) and will "remain a creative powerhouse in AAA game development and publishing."

This announcement follows a particularly tough year for Embracer. In 2023, the company set out on a "restructuring effort" which resulted in the cancellation of  29 unannounced games, the shutdown of seven studios, the sale of both Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake studio Saber and Borderlands Studio Gearbox, and thousands of staff members losing their jobs.

Find out what the rest of the year holds with our new games 2024 list.