Lord of the Rings is one of the most coveted video game franchises and it will return home from Electronic Arts after eight years, spanning a variety of different types of titles. Warner Bros. and their video gaming studios will be taking charge of the franchise moving forward.

According to the latest reports, in addition to Lord of the Rings, it is also likely that the other J.R.R Tolkien video gaming rights will also revert back to Warner as part of this homecoming. It is unknown what Warner might have planned for the future of the franchise, but rumors surrounding a new video gaming franchise that will encompass the Hobbit movie, which is due out in 2012, seem to be where things are heading at the moment.

Electronic Arts’ experience with the franchise has to be described as mixed. Early releases seemed to have gained some traction, but the last release from EA, which was Lord of the Rings: Conquest was a mess, according to most reviews; and despite the fact that the game did vault into the top 10 in sales that was short lived once word leaked out about how poor the title actually was.

It is likely that Warner might move forward with some new additions to the franchise, as it does own several studios now, and the company has been putting more effort into video game development than it has in the past. Warner is looking to take more advantage of the licenses that it has and the ability to generate revenue from these licenses, rather than farming them out for a small share of the profits.