EA has announced that Project Gray Company, the mystery next-gen action-oriented RPG in development with its Redwood Shores studio, will be called The Lord of the Rings: The White Council.  The game will take place in Tolkien's fantastical world, beginning an entire lifetime before the War of the Ring takes place. Aragorn is but 10 years old, and Bilbo has not yet found the One Ring.

The game is currently in development for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC for a 2007 release, and is inspired by the recent Peter Jackson films. You can choose to explore Middle-earth as a man, elf, dwarf or hobbit; your destiny is to become a hero allied with the White Council, which counts Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel and Saruman among its members. Heartwarmingly, Sir Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett return to voice their roles in The White Council.

Project Gray Company was the working title of the game, presumably so-titled for project leader Steve Gray (not Gandalf the Grey). This group of game designers previously worked on The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age. Artwork, concept video (no gameplay) and extremely ornate concept drawings were shown, and Gray stated that his team marked these lofty concepts as their goal for the eventual look of the game.

July 14, 2006