With an announcement from Turbine today, the development teams of Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online will be combined to create a new studio called Standing Stone Games. Daybreak will handle the publishing of LOTRO and DDO, and be the global publisher for their games going forward. Turbine will no longer be involved in the development of either of these games. However, the same teams will continue development through this new games studio.
Greetings,
Today we have some momentous news! The game teams responsible for The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) and Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) are now moving from Turbine to Standing Stone Games, a newly formed indie game studio. In addition, we’ve partnered with Daybreak Games to provide global publishing services. They’ve had a long, successful history developing and publishing MMOs, and we’re happy to lean on their expertise.
With the announcement out of the way, I wanted to talk to you about what all this means.
We’re embarking on an exciting adventure as Standing Stone Games, a newly-independent studio staffed by people who have been working on DDO and LOTRO for many years. The teams remain very much committed to both games and are thrilled to continue development and operations of these games as an independent studio. This is an opportunity for us to bring about our dreams while still working on two of the biggest licenses in video games. It’s a huge honor, and for you this means your games will continue to grow and improve. We love to focus on games with a high level of depth and scope, and we can’t wait to show you what the future brings.
Although a great many exciting things are happening on our end, you’ll be able to continue playing the game(s) you enjoy with as little interruption as possible. Our development continues on track, and the plans we have already announced remain firmly in our future view. Again, although we are a new studio, we are also the same developers who have been and will continue to work on our games.
Our success has always been possible because of your support. As we move forward, this is more important than ever. The ultimate goal of our new studio is to continue to bring you amazing experiences. We are excited for the future, and we’re thrilled to have you with us on this journey.
Here’s to great games, epic adventures, and memorable times with friends!
~Sev
Daybreak Games
Daybreak Games (formerly Sony Online Entertainment) becoming the publisher is no surprise, given the company’s the long history of titles. Some other games they’ve published are:
- H1z1: KoTK and Just Survive
- Planetside 2
- EverQuest
- EverQuest II
- DC Universe Online
Now, Daybreak adds two more games to it’s publishing roster going forward.
Standing Stone Games
As for Standing Stone Games, it is very exciting to see two great teams merging into a new indie studio. It’s clear support will be continued for both games that have been previously handled as separate teams. From their FAQ, it seems they’ve already handled most transitional problems. There will be no difference from the player’s perspective as far as we can tell. Proving there will still be development, a new patch released today for The Lord of the Rings Online.
It seems the transition for this new company was handled professionally by all parties, and everyone should look forward to anything new that comes out of this new studio.
