Guardians of Middle-earth is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The setting of the game is Middle-earth, derived from The Lord of the Rings series, with various tie-ins to the film series of the same name, as well as The Hobbit film series. Guardians of Middle-earth was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles on December 4, 2012, via the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade respectively. A retail package is also released, which includes a download voucher for the game as well as a "Season Pass" for future downloadable content. It is no longer available on the PlayStation Network, and the game's servers are no longer operational. The game was later released for Microsoft Windows on August 29, 2013. Gameplay Guardians of Middle-earth incorporates the standard elements of a typical multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, with a strong emphasis upon team coordination. Up to ten players may split into two teams of five and from a pool of thirty-six guardians from The Lord of the Rings franchise, including Gandalf, Sauron and Radagast, and coordinate to win matches by destroying the opposing team's base. Unlike most other MOBA titles, Guardians of Middle-earth emphasizes home console, rather than desktop, gameplay, in order to gain a "cinematic" experience. Reception Guardians of Middle-earth received mixed reviews. It scored a 7.5/10 from IGN. Many users have problems with the games interfacing on PC, as well as numerous glitches in connectivity. As of April 2019, Steam has removed Guardians of Middle Earth from their store page. References External links 2012 video games Fantasy video games Monolith Productions games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer online battle arena games Multiplayer online games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation Network games Video games scored by Inon Zur Video games scored by Laura Karpman Video games developed in the United States Video games using Havok Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment games Windows games Xbox 360 games Xbox 360 Live Arcade games Middle-earth (film franchise) video games