April 25^th, 2003 (12:00am) - Electronic Arts officially announced today the development of The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and the PC. All versions of The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King game will be released worldwide in fall 2003 under the EA GAMES brand.

Based on New Line Cinema’s upcoming film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King video game will let players journey through multiple gameplay paths, taking control of the motion picture trilogy’s heroes including Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Sam, and Frodo. Set in all of the breathtaking locations from the upcoming movie, The Return of the King’s third person gameplay will include immersive action and epic adventure elements based in rich, interactive levels. An all-new multiplayer co-op mode will let players form their own Fellowship before embarking on their journey through Middle-earth.

Under an exclusive licensing agreement with New Line Cinema, EA has the rights to create and publish interactive entertainment games based on the movie trilogy. Currently under development, The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King game is the second installment in a series of licensed The Lord of the Rings games from EA. The console and PC versions are currently being developed by EA’s Redwood Shores Studio. The Game Boy Advance version is being developed by Griptonite Games, an Amaze Entertainment Studio. For more information on EA’s The Lord of the Rings games, visit the official product website at http://lordoftherings.eagames.com.

The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King film from New Line Cinema will be released in theaters nationwide on December 17, 2003. For more information about The Lord of the Rings movies, please go to www.lordoftherings.net.