Eidos-Montréal is a studio that has participated in the development of major games like the Tomb Raider saga, but lately has been relegated to a support studio for other projects. Following the acquisition by Embracer, the studio has faced several difficulties, such as layoffs and the cancellation of various projects.
According to Insider Gaming, some of these discarded projects included a Legacy of Kain soft-reboot scrapped in 2022, as well as a Lord of the Rings game. This latter project has been described as a game with card-based mechanics and a “Telltale” story spin on it. It is also said that, apparently, development on this game didn’t go very far before being scrapped.
Aside from this description, we haven’t gotten a lot of details about this project, which is understandable given the state of development. However, fans of the Tolkien epic will be glad to know that we’ve gotten our hands on a few images that show a conceptual glimpse into what was being worked on before its cancellation.
Concept Art from Eidos-Montréal’s LOTR Game
The illustrations come from the portfolio of a former Eidos-Montréal artist. In them, we see a variety of different locations inside the world of Middle-earth from a top-down view, which seems to be the way the game would have been played.
There is also a recurring mention in the filenames of what might be the main setting: Umbar, a location described in the books as a major port city on the coast of Gondor, primarily inhabited by pirates. This matches what’s seen here, like with the inclusion of ships and the dry biomes surrounding Umbar.
Another interesting location seen in the images, which fans of the series will recognize, is The Prancing Pony inn, where Frodo and his friends first meet Aragorn. We know this thanks to the image’s filename, which explicitly mentions the location.
The portfolio also includes a single video offering a rotating view of the Bay of Umbar in two different stages: before and after the fall of the city. As described in the LOTR books, this likely depicts the aftermath of several battles where the pirate stronghold was defeated and left in ruins.
The final batch of images offers a look at early gameplay tests, showcasing the transition from concept art to a 3D model of the city. The environment is largely untextured, displaying the grid patterns typical of this early development phase, but it already features basic mechanics like ladder climbing.
Additionally, we can spot red silhouettes that closely resemble Orcs, though a developer note in the level explicitly refers to a “Corsair,” suggesting the game would have featured the pirates of Umbar, perhaps fighting alongside Sauron’s other forces.
It is difficult to visualize how the rumored card-based mechanics would have integrated with the gameplay shown in these images. The top-down perspective strongly suggests real-time melee combat, akin to titles like No Rest for the Wicked. It is possible that the project underwent significant changes during development, or that it aimed for a bold mix of genres.
Ultimately, these glimpses leave us wondering about the unique experience Eidos-Montréal was trying to forge with the LOTR world before the project was shelved for good.
Now the studio is reportedly focused on its next major project, known internally as P11, which is understood to be deep in development. This would be a new third-person, open-world action-adventure IP, being built on Unreal Engine 5, with a potential release targeted for this year.
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