Unearthed concept art for Eidos-Montréal's canceled Lord of the Rings game suggests it focused on Aragorn before the events of the trilogy in a Telltale-like narrative

Eidos Montreal's cancelled Lord of the Rings game has resurfaced after images were posted to the portfolio of a former studio artist.

Since the release of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy in 2021, Eidos Montreal hasn't had the best time as a studio. Back in 2024, the rumoured Deus Ex revival from the studio was cancelled before it was even announced, and rumours of a cancelled Legacy of Kain reboot emerged last year. The only projects that have seen the light of day are Playground Games' upcoming Fable reboot and Obsidian Entertainment's Grounded 2, both of which Eidos Montreal worked on as a support studio.

And sadly, yet another cancelled Eidos Montreal game has emerged, with MP1ST reporting on the emergence of concept art for the game. The game in question would've been an isometric Lord of the Rings title, previously reported to feature card-based mechanics and a Telltale Games-inspired narrative approach.

The concept art shows off multiple scenarios showing the Umbar region of Middle-earth, and notably the Prancing Pony Inn, which is where Frodo and his band of hobbits go to meet Gandalf, but instead run into the mysterious Strider – later revealed to be Aragorn – during the events of The Lord of the Rings. The portfolio also included some work-in-progress 3D level designs, and a 3D map of Umbar both "before the fall" and "after the fall" suggesting the game would depict the fall of the stronghold, which was led by Aragorn almost 40 years before the War of the Ring and by extension the events of The Lord of the Rings.

25 years later, and I'm fully convinced there'll never be a greater adaptation than The Lord of the Rings trilogy.