Released in 2004, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth was a high point in a period when EA had the license to make games based on Peter Jackson's film trilogy. That license reverted to Warner Bros. in a messy handover in late 2008, condemning the Middle-earth real-time-strategy series to licensing hell--but now a group of fans is bringing it back with a modern engine, Kotaku reports.

The project is fittingly named The Battle for Middle-earth: Reforged and was first announced in 2018. However, a recently released video showcasing a whole chunk of gameplay has brought BFME:Reforged back into the limelight.

Due to licensing issues and the age of the original game, it's difficult for fans to get a hold of EA's original version of BFME, and even harder to get it working on a modern computer. However the Reforged team is going further than just making the game playable again, instead giving it a full graphical update, as well as adding new features and effects. The project's website describes a team of fans working on the unofficial remaster, with some working almost full time on it.