“The Lord of the Rings is one of the most popular franchises in the world and we are pleased to work with SAKURA to bring our game to the Japanese market,” said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “With nearly 200,000 players already signed up for our upcoming Beta Program, we believe that The Lord of the Rings Online will have massive appeal.”

“We are very excited to be working with Turbine to bring The Lord of the Rings Online to the rapidly growing online gaming community in Japan,” said Ryo Sasada, president and CEO of SAKURA. “We are thrilled to bring this legendary franchise to the MMO players in Japan.”

The Lord of the Rings Online is the first and only massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Players will fight the evil minions of the Dark Lord Sauron, and advance their heroes by adventuring through the vast reaches of Middle-earth, the most famous fantasy world of all time.