The IP address for the old http://www.middle-earth.com/ Web site associated with the former incarnation of the Sierra online game has been reassigned to a new domain. However, DNS servers are still associating Middle-earth.Com with that IP address as well.
A recent inquiry to the new domain owner, Rachel Drew (whose domain is http://www.drewstudio.com/), reveals that she was surprised to learn her Web-hosting ISP had randomly assigned her the IP address for a once popular Web site.
Middle-earth.Com is currently registered to the Saul Zaentz Company, of which Tolkien Enterprises is a division. The domain registration record was updated in early July 2000.
That Sierra Studios and their parent company Havas are not associated with the domain in the current DNS record may fuel rumors among curious gamers, many of whom have lost faith in Sierra’s ability to deliver an online game based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s world since the mass firing of the original development team and many other employees in late September 1999. The story of the ill-fated online game has been documented by Daniel James, a former member of the original team.
Unsubstantiated rumors have been circulating on the Internet about alleged efforts by Tolkien Enterprises to discontinue older licensing agreements predating Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” movies. No one in a position to know is really saying anything, however.
Several companies have reportedly been competing for the rights to produce an online game associated with Peter Jackson’s movies. These rights would apparently be controlled by New Line Cinema, which recently awarded the master toy merchandising rights to Marvel Comics’ Toy Biz division. Havas is said to want the contract for the movie-based game so as to consolidate its gaming interest and ensure there is no competition.
The master toy licensing contract authorizes Toy Biz to sub-license action figures, remote controlled toys, and numerous other types of merchandise. An older action figure license awarded to Toy Vault, manufacturer of the Middle-earth Toys action figures, has been cast into a state of quiet ambivalence by the Toy Biz license. Toy Vault refuses to comment publicly on the situation other than to say they are discussing their contract with Tolkien Enterprises. They recently revised their Middle-earth Toys Web site and took down some content without comment.
Toy Vault has been aggressivly expanding its other product lines and if the Middle-earth license is prematurely retracted (their contract is said to expire at the end of 2001) the action will probably have little impact on their overall business. Toy Vault recently announced the impending release of two more action figures in the Middle-earth series, Galadriel and the Barrow-wight. Their design work has received high marks from many Tolkien fans despite some of the controversial issues which have arisen (such as their use of green skin on the Ugluk figure, pointed ears on the Elves, and the small detachable wings on the Balrog, as well as the introduction of the noncanonical Forest and Earth Balrogs).
Observers in several Internet forums have asked whether Tolkien Enterprises is seeking to consolidate licenses to correspond with the movie-based merchandising, since they also withdrew the contract from Iron Crown Enterprises for their Middle-earth Role-playing Game, which had been published for 18 years.
I.C.E. went into bankruptcy in 1999 but Xenite.Org has been told that the license merely came up for renewal and the asking price was raised to reflect the increased value of the Tolkien franchise as driven upward by the movies. I.C.E. reportedly elected not to renew the contract. As of this writing, no new traditional role-playing game based on Tolkien’s world has been announced.
The several contract issues thus appear to be unrelated.
