Decipher Inc. announced this week at GAMA that they have acquired the license to create roleplaying games based on the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  This rounds out a hat trick of game licenses granted for the property, with Games Workshop getting the board game and Decipher getting the RPG and CCG.  Decipher's license was granted both by New Line Cinema, producer of the film version of the Rings trilogy, and Tolkien Enterprises, the company that controls the literary rights to the property.  The first film in the trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring (see 'Best in Shows') opens on Dec. 19, 2001, and Decipher plans to have the Lord of the Rings RPG out before the movie opens. The second film in the series, The Two Towers opens in 2002, while the final film, The Return of the King, debuts in 2003.  Decipher's licenses for both the LOTR RPG and CCG extend through 2006, with renewal rights for an additional five years.

The end of this year looks like it just might turn out to be the battle of the fantasy titans with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (opening in late November) duking it out with The Fellowship of the Ring.  Wizards of the Coast has the Harry Potter CCG license so they will be going head-to-head with Decipher and its Lord of the Rings game. It seems likely that to at least some degree the fantasy audience will split along age lines, with younger recent Pokemon graduates going for Harry Potter, and older fans that grew up with Tolkien gravitating to The Lord of the Rings.  And with the long-term association between Tolkien-style fantasy and roleplaying, miniature, and collectible card games, it seems likely that LOTR will win the serious gamers.   The other question that springs to mind is how the audiences will segment into the board, CCG and RPG games and whether any fans will buy in multiple categories.  A boutique approach to LOTR makes sense, with stock levels of the three game formats based on sales in the individual store.