Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Kabam Enter New Realm with Free-to-Play Browser Game “The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age”
(March 21, 2013 – San Francsico, CA) – Kabam, the leader in the western world for free-to-play core games, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have launched “The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age” for Web browsers, now available on Facebook and other Web platforms. The free-to-play tactical combat game is inspired by “The Hobbit” film trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson and a production of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.
Kabam and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment previously launched “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth,” the free-to-play game for mobile devices, currently available on the App Store for iOS and on Google Play for Android. “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth” was the no. 10 grossing game on iOS worldwide and within the top 15 grossing games on Google Play worldwide in Jan. 2013, according to the App Annie Index.
“‘The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age’ and ‘The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth’ deliver two immersive and dramatically different ways to experience the most iconic fantasy world of all time, across the Web and mobile devices,” said Andrew Sheppard, President of Kabam Game Studios. “Kabam is unique in its ability to deliver compelling, high-fidelity free-to-play games across genres and platforms.”
“The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age” challenges players to take up arms alongside the greatest heroes of the Third Age, including select characters from “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” like Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield, Radagast and more. Gamers are charged to lead an army of Elves, Dwarves or Orcs in fast-paced tactical combat and band together with thousands of other players to join powerful alliances and wage an epic war online. “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth” challenges players to build their own empire in Middle-earth, in a deep, immersive strategy game.
"‘The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age’ from Kabam and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is a great example of the type of high quality games being built on Facebook," said Sean Ryan, Director of Games Partnerships, Facebook. "Kabam’s first strategy game ‘Kingdoms of Camelot’ launched on Facebook in 2009 and became a major franchise, and we’re excited to see Kabam build their latest game on Facebook. As the Facebook games ecosystem grows, we look forward to seeing more highly engaging experiences from Kabam."
“We’re eager to bring ‘The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age’ to the millions of Middle-earth fans who engage online,” said Greg Ballard, Senior Vice President, Digital Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “The Facebook and browser-based portals are key locations where ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit’ film fans can regularly engage with Middle-earth in a shared interactive environment.”
“The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age” will be available in English, French, German and Spanish. “The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age” and “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth” are developed and operated by Kabam, and co-published by Kabam and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In addition to Facebook, the game is available on Kabam.com and the Google Chrome Store.
Art and logos for both “The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age” and “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth” are available at: https://www.kabam.com/corporate/news/press-kit
About Kabam:
Kabam, the leader in free to play core gaming, is transforming the traditional gaming industry. The company’s studios focus on combining the best elements of traditional and social gaming to appeal to a growing audience of gamers looking for highly immersive social games on PC, mobile, and tablet platforms. Recent Kabam titles include “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth,” “The Godfather: Five Families,” “Dragons of Atlantis,” “Edgeworld,” the award-winning “Kingdoms of Camelot,” and the company’s first mobile game “Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North.” Kabam has seven titles that gross more than $1 million per month and had three of the Top 25 grossing games on iOS and Android by the end of 2012. The average revenue per paying Kabam player is $80 per month. Kabam games are currently available for play on iOS, Android, Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Kabam.com and an ever growing number of global social networks and online channels, as well as mobile and tablet. Founded in 2006 with headquarters in San Francisco, Calif., Kabam has built a team of game industry professionals, from scratch in the last three years, committed to creating deeply engaging games that delight our players. More information about Kabam can be found at www.kabam.com. About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment:
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc., is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles. About “The Hobbit” Trilogy:
Under the direction of Peter Jackson, the Academy Award-winning director of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” features a screenplay by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson. Jackson is also producing the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers. New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a WingNut Films Production, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” All three films in “The Hobbit” trilogy, also including “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” and the final film, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” was released on December 14, 2012. The second film in the trilogy, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” will be released December 13, 2013, with the third film, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” slated for July 18, 2014.###
Kabam, the leader in free to play core gaming, is transforming the traditional gaming industry. The company’s studios focus on combining the best elements of traditional and social gaming to appeal to a growing audience of gamers looking for highly immersive social games on PC, mobile, and tablet platforms. Recent Kabam titles include “The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth,” “The Godfather: Five Families,” “Dragons of Atlantis,” “Edgeworld,” the award-winning “Kingdoms of Camelot,” and the company’s first mobile game “Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North.” Kabam has seven titles that gross more than $1 million per month and had three of the Top 25 grossing games on iOS and Android by the end of 2012. The average revenue per paying Kabam player is $80 per month. Kabam games are currently available for play on iOS, Android, Facebook, Yahoo, Google, Kabam.com and an ever growing number of global social networks and online channels, as well as mobile and tablet. Founded in 2006 with headquarters in San Francisco, Calif., Kabam has built a team of game industry professionals, from scratch in the last three years, committed to creating deeply engaging games that delight our players. More information about Kabam can be found at www.kabam.com. About Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment:
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc., is a premier worldwide publisher, developer, licensor and distributor of entertainment content for the interactive space across all current and future platforms, including console, handheld and PC-based gaming for both internal and third party game titles. About “The Hobbit” Trilogy:
Under the direction of Peter Jackson, the Academy Award-winning director of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” features a screenplay by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson. Jackson is also producing the film, together with Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner and Fran Walsh. The executive producers are Alan Horn, Toby Emmerich, Ken Kamins and Carolyn Blackwood, with Boyens and Eileen Moran serving as co-producers. New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Present a WingNut Films Production, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” All three films in “The Hobbit” trilogy, also including “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” and the final film, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” are productions of New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), with New Line managing production. Warner Bros. Pictures is handling worldwide theatrical distribution, with select international territories as well as all international television distribution being handled by MGM. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” was released on December 14, 2012. The second film in the trilogy, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” will be released December 13, 2013, with the third film, “The Hobbit: There and Back Again,” slated for July 18, 2014.