Electronic Arts have opened a new website that will showcase their upcoming RPG, Project Gray Company. The next generation RPG has been in development for over a year, with creative director, Chris Tremmel, working on the project.

Chris is well known for his work on The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, but will the new RPG see a return to Middle-Earth - in an effort to squeeze every last drop of money out of the multi-billion dollar franchise - or will EA bring something new to the table?

According to the website, they hope to "deliver an experience that allows the player to be a hero in an expansive world setting." EA continue by saying that they " hope to provide a world rich in activities and options for the player so each persons play experience is unique and crafted to their play style.

Project Gray Company will use the same technology that was used in Sims 2, and will feature a main mission and side quests.

A source on the newly opened forums claims that the game will be single player only, and should also be appearing on PC, as well as next generation consoles.

It could be argued that this will be Electronic Art's first 'real' venture into the World of the RPG. The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age wasn't a standard RPG, there was no buying or selling or free roaming. An RPG is about playing a fulfilling and playing a role is it not and, although The Third Age was billed as an RPG, in my eyes it didn't come close. I suppose the definition of an RPG will differ depending who you ask, but it will be interesting to see EA's take on their latest game.

EA are currently asking for input from gamers regarding their new game, and it's interesting to see that when EA have asked players what they would like to see, a number of people have responded by saying 'Oblivion 2.' Oblivion is the benchmark that EA have to look towards if they want their new RPG to be a huge success (either that or just call it Lord of The Rings: Project Gray company).

More details should be released shortly.

Source: Official Site