Turbine, Inc. and Midway Games Inc. are organising a massive, free World Tour of Middle-Earth available to players throughout North America. Over one million players are planned to be invited into The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, the most complete and authentic massively multiplayer online world based upon the famous Books of J.R.R. Tolkien. The World Tour of Middle-Earth is scheduled to begin on April 6th and continue until the launch of the game on April 24th.

"We decided to launch the World Tour of Middle-Earth because of the overwhelming demand from players to get into the closed beta," said Jeffrey Anderson, President and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "We expect the World Tour of Middle-Earth to be a spectacular event like nothing that you've ever seen before."

Free access to this hotly anticipated game combined with the size and scale of the tour make this an unprecedented event in the MMO industry.

Advancement in the game will be capped at level 15 which will give players an opportunity to experience the most authentic online persistent recreation of Middle-Earth ever created.

For more information, visit lotro.com/worldtour.

The Lord of the Rings Online is the first and only massively multiplayer online role-playing game based upon the Books of J.R.R. Tolkien. The game delivers an experience that takes players beyond the books to where players can create their own story within the most famous fantasy world of all time.