Turbine
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Index to all News postings
Turbine
- Founded in 1994 as CyberSpace by a group of students from Brown University, the company developed Asheron's Call (released in 1995) and Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) prior to Lord of the Rings Online.
- Originally a private company backed by Highland Capital Partners, Polaris Venture Partners, and other private investors since 1998. On April 20, 2010, the company was formally acquired by Warner Bros. (Press release information: WB acquires Turbine.)
- The Turbine corporate website: https://www.turbine.com
- In June 2016, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group confirmed another round of layoffs and announced:
- "Turbine is transitioning into a free-to-play, mobile development studio, and as a result we are eliminating some positions. The Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online games will continue to operate as they do now. Re-focusing and reducing the studio size was a difficult decision for the company, and we are grateful to all of the Turbine staff for their considerable contributions."
- That statement doesn't mention Turbine's other MMORPG, Asheron's Call (AC), which it launched back in 1999 and has been running ever since. Despite comments in 2015 that Turbine would make Player-run worlds available, nothing has ever happened on that front. However, as of July 2016, Turbine continues to operate the game servers for AC.
- After the studio had been purchased by WB, Turbine tried to create a MOBA based on Warner's DC Comics characters. Infinite Crisis went into beta in 2014, officially launched in March 2015, and was shut down by Warner Brothers just five months later.
- Turbine's most recent release (July 2016) is apparently only for both IOS and Android (available in their respective App Stores) is: Batman: Arkham Underworld
- Their next announced game is "Game of Thrones: Conquest."
- In December 2016, Standing Stone Games acquired both LOTRO and DDO from Turbine.
LOTRO Game launch and history of major releases
- 24 April 2007 - Official Launch - The Lord of the Rings Online™: SHADOWS OF ANGMAR™
- 18 November 2008 - The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria was the first major expansion for the game.
- 1 December 2009 - The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood, became the second major expansion.
- 20 April 2010 Turbine, Inc., the game's developer was acquired by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group.
- Free-to-play (F2P) was begun on 10 September 2010. -- Volume III: Book 2: The Ride of the Grey Company
- Update 2 (since Free to Play), Echoes of The Dead -- 18 March 2011
- Update 3 (since Free to Play), Lost Legends of Eriador -- 05 May 2011
- Update 4 (since Free to Play), the third major expansion The Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard (ROI), was released on 26 September, 2011 - a day earlier than announced.
- Update 5 (since Free to Play), Armies of Isengard - 12 December, 2011
- Update 6 (since Free to Play), Shores of the Great River - 12 March, 2012
- Update 7 (since Free to Play), Shades of the Past - 14 May, 2012
- Update 8 (since Free to Play), The fourth major expansion - The Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan (ROR); Introduction of the Native Mac Client - originally scheduled for release in early September, was delayed and released on 15 October 2012.
- Update 9 (since Free to Play), Against the Shadow - 17 December, 2012
- Update 10 (since Free to Play), Against the Shadow part II - 6 March, 2013
- Update 11 (since Free to Play), Treachery of the White Hand - 13 May, 2013
- Update 12 (since Free to Play), The fifth major expansion - The Lord of the Rings Online: Helm's Deep (HD) - 20 November 2013
- Update 13 (since Free to Play), The Breaking of Isengard - April 14, 2014
- Update 14 (since Free to Play), The Paths of the Dead - July 14, 2014 (Western Gondor)
- Update 14.2 (since Free to Play) - The Dead Marshes - September 15, 2014
- Update 15.0 (since Free to Play) - Gondor Aflame - November 2014
- Update 16.0 (since Free to Play) - Ashes of Osgiliath - May 4, 2015
- Update 17.0 (since Free to Play) - The Siege of Minas Tirith - October 27, 2015
- Update 18.0 (since Free to Play) - The Battle of Pelennor Fields (The Ride of the Rohirrim) - April 12, 2016
- Update 19.0 (since Free to Play) - The March of the King - October 18, 2016