February 28^th, 2006 (2:20pm) - The highly anticipated The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II has shipped to retailers nationwide and will be in stores on March 2, 2006. The sequel to the critically acclaimed The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth, this real-time strategy (RTS) game offers the chance to experience Middle-earth in a way you have never seen.

Developed at EA’s Los Angeles (EALA) studio for the PC under the EA™ brand, The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II includes all new content from J.R.R. Tolkien’s original fiction, and allows the player to delve deeper than ever before and engage in new battles that go beyond the award-winning movie trilogy. The development team at EALA have brought The Lord of the Rings™ world to life in accordance with an agreement with The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises that grants EA the rights to develop games based on the books, in addition to a separate agreement that allows for games based on the New Line Cinema films.

"The Lord of Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II introduces players to new heroes, creatures, places and stories from Tolkien’s fiction brought to life in the visual style of the films from New Line Cinema," said Mike Verdu, Executive Producer at EA LA. "The game combines a rich and wonderful world with innovations in real-time strategy game play to deliver the complete Middle-earth experience. This is the Middle-earth you’ve never seen."

In The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II, players wage war in the Northern regions of Middle-earth where they can choose to assume command of the most storied civilizations in all of Middle-earth history - the Elven and Dwarven armies - or fight on the side of Evil with heroes and creatures that have never been seen in The Lord of the Rings™ films. Reprising his role as Lord Elrond, Hugo Weaving lends his voice to the game, helping to set the scene and tone for each mission.

Players can customize their experience by creating their own hero and building all new customized RTS units. Build landmark castles with fully customizable and upgradeable fortresses and walls or control the entire war with War of the Ring Mode; a high level "Risk" style meta-game on the Living World Map with all new strategic AI.

In conjunction with the shipping of The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II PC game (US MSRP of $49.99), EA will release a special Collector’s Edition. For the first time ever, fans of The Lord of the Rings can see what goes into the making of a blockbuster PC game with the DVD release of The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II Collector’s Edition (US MSRP of $59.99) as well as experience exclusive in-game content. Both versions of the game are rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB.