Ares Games, a new Italian games publisher, has acquired the rights to publish the acclaimed War of the Ring board game from Sophisticated Games.  First published in 2004, War of the Ring was created by the Italian game designers Roberto Di Meglio, Francesco Nepitello, and Marco Maggi.  The game was nominated for the 2007 Golden Geek “Best Wargame” Award.  War of the Ring and a 2006 expansion Battles of the Third Age were released in the U.S. by Fantasy Flight Games, but both the basic game and the expansion are currently out of print, which is why Ares Games’ announcement of the fall 2011 release of the revised War of the Ring game is very good news indeed.

 

The revised edition will include several changes from the previous version published by Nexus Editrice and NG International (which has just gone out of business, see “Nexus Games R.I.P.”).  It will sport an entirely new graphic design—though the design will still be based on the original illustrations created by famed Tolkien artist John Howe.  The new edition will also include larger, tarot-size cards as well as revised rules with changes to some key game elements to make them even more balanced and engaging.

 

Christoph Cianci, the CEO of Ares Games, commented: “We are proud to be able to bring back to the international gaming market a prestigious game like War of the Ring.  The game has been out of the market for a long time and there is a lot of anticipation for this second edition, which we forecast to release before the end of the year.”

 

The War of the Ring board game, which is based on literary rights granted by Middle-Earth Enterprises, is slated to debut in an English language version in the autumn of 2011 with editions in other languages planned for the spring of 2012.