The way Embracer's talking about The Lord of the Rings should say one thing to fans: 'Fly, you fools!'

In 2022 Embracer acquired the rights to most media relating to The Lord of the Rings, a complex deal that nevertheless gives it control over pretty much everything to do with the series outside of the original books (which among other things remain controlled by the Tolkien estate). This operation is managed by a subsidiary set up for the purpose, Middle-earth Enterprises, and so far their main output has been a bit of a hangover from before it acquired the rights: a Gollum game so dodgy that it more-or-less killed Daedelic as a developer.

Lee Guinchard is the CEO of Embracer Freemode (the parent company of Middle-earth Enterprises) and is basically now in charge of the franchise. Videogames, movies, board games, and merch based on the series will all involve this company from hereon out, and Guinchard is the man with the final say.

And it goes without saying that he's got the Tolkien-praising down to an art. In a new interview with VentureBeat Guinchard says a lot of words, but you'll struggle to find much purchase therein. «The fans who experience this see it as the greatest world ever made outside of our own,» is one such meaningless paean. «We have the characters and stories people love and yearn for everywhere in the world,» runs another.

In days gone Tolkien fans were often critical of the author's son, Christopher, for both his fiercely protective attitude towards the books, as well as his own many contributions to the LotR 'canon'. Those projects that did happen were mostly down to Saul Zaentz, who managed to negotiate a licence and get things like Jackson's films made. Zaentz died in 2014, and Christopher Tolkien in 2020, which opened up the door to this more comprehensive deal, as well as a nice payout for the Tolkien grandchildren.

Fans may come to look back on that as the golden era, because Embracer and Guinchard are out for big money. The main beats of the CEO's background are lengthy stints at Take-Two and Activision Blizzard, and so a lot of what he