Black Label Games, a studio of Vivendi Universal Games (VU Games), has announced it has entered into a production agreement with Liquid Entertainment to develop "The Lord of the Rings(TM): The War of the Ring," a real-time strategy (RTS) game for the PC platform. The game will be developed through VU Games' long-term agreement with Tolkien Enterprises to create interactive entertainment based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic novel "The Lord of the Rings." The game will be released in early 2004.

Expanding on the world of Middle-earth and its inhabitants as introduced by J.R.R. Tolkien, the game allows players to engage in the epic story though both a good and an evil single-player campaign. Players also will be able to play on both sides in an extensive multi-player mode.

"The selection of Liquid Entertainment, recognized in the gaming industry for their PC strategy title, 'Battle Realms,' as the developer for 'The War of the Ring' underscores our long-term commitment to creating high-quality titles based on the Tolkien works," said Torrie Dorrell, general manager of Black Label Games.