Warner Bros. Announces The Hobbit Games

Warner Bros. has partnered with Kabam to create two free-to-play games inspired by The Hobbit for the web and mobile devices.

Both The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth for mobile devices and The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age for web browsers will be multiplayer strategy games, due out in Autumn 2012.

The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth will task players with building and managing their own kingdom in Middle-earth, including joining with other players to engage in war, while The Hobbit:  Armies of the Third Age will offer gamers strategic combat, whilst controlling iconic characters including Bilbo and Gandalf at the head of an army of Elves, Dwarves or Orcs.

Warner Bros. senior VP of Digital Games Greg Ballard said, "We are very pleased to work with Kabam in creating immersive free-to-play online games on massive scales across multiple platforms. Kabam’s Armies of the Third Age and Kingdoms of Middle-earth will be an excellent way for The Hobbit film fans around the world to delve more into the iconic story and interact with the characters in the universe."

Anyone wishing to register for the upcoming beta for Armies of the Third Age can do so now at the game's website.

The Hobbit: Bilbo Gets a New Poster

To celebrate Hobbit Day, Warner Bros. and MGM have released the new poster for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, this one featuring Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) and his sword Sting.

In other Hobbit Day news, check out this Hobbit trailer made by school kids:

The Hobbit: It's Tolkien Week, My Precious

 Warner Bros. has officially announced its participation in this week's celebration of Tolkien Week and Hobbit Day by releasing more new photos from the upcoming release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and touting this Wednesday's online debut of the film's new trailer. Further details are in the release following the photos below:

The week-long Tolkien Week celebration encompasses the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit novel and the worldwide celebration of Hobbit Day. The American Tolkien Society first proclaimed Hobbit Day and Tolkien Week in 1978, though Hobbit Day celebrations existed prior to its official recognition. Tolkien fans the world over celebrate by having parties and feasts emulating Hobbit celebrations as described in the books.

The celebration will continue on Friday, September 21, with activities related to the 75th anniversary of the book's publication, which occurred on that same day in 1937. On Saturday, September 22, fans around the world will recognize Hobbit Day—marking the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, the Hobbits who are the unlikely heroes of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, respectively—with Hobbit Day parties and celebrations. Bilbo and Frodo were both said to be born on the same day of different years, Bilbo in the year 2890 and Frodo in the year of 2968 in the Third Age (1290 and 1368, respectively, in Shire-reckoning, the Hobbits' own calendar).

Throughout early September, the Facebook page for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will roll out a series of features and ideas to create a fun, communal experience leading up to Tolkien Week, including "How to Throw a Hobbit Party" instructions, a "Fan of the Week" contest, and a special app on which fans will be able to share and collect recipes inspired by Middle-earth.