Since its release earlier this week, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor has quickly developed a big fan base with great reviews and positive buzz coming from the action-RPG set in the epic realm of Middle-earth, yet many have been left wondering why Lord of the Rings was left out of the title, given its big establishment in the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Speaking in an interview, Shadow of Morder lead designer Bob Roberts spoke about the decision to exclude Lord of the Rings from the title of the game, and simply put it that the studio was looking to create a new experience that wouldn't draw specifically on players' memories of the books, or more recently the films, and not any issues of legality or rights. Roberts mentioned in the interview:

"One of our goals from the beginning was not to make a 'movie game. Not to just rehash the same events over again. So, just trying to make the best game we can, and making it clear that this is its own thing –– its own story, its own experience."

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is available now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC, followed by releases for PS3 and Xbox 360 on November 18th, 2014.