Development studio Turbine is preparing a Lord of the Rings Online version for consoles. They are looking for experienced game developers for consoles.

Even thought Turbine has only produced MMORPGs for the PC in the past, with The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar as their best selling title, past statements by Turbine’s executive producer Jeffrey Steefel tell us they have always considered this an option.

When Dutch site Tweakers.net inquired about this, Steefel responded: “We have the license to the Lord of the Rings for all systems and we plan to use it.”

When asked if a console version is coming up, Steefel responds: “We have no announcements at this time, but consoles clearly are an interesting market to explore. If you look at our website, most of your questions will be answered.”

Positive as Steefel might be about the console market, he foresees problems. “There have been numerous attempts at making an MMO for the consoles, yet none have achieved success. Therein lies our challenge. We will have to design a new UI targeted towards console players. On a PC, you have a full keyboard and mouse at your disposal. The controller on a console has considerably fewer buttons.”

Only time will tell if and when Turbine will announce console versions of The Lord of the Rings, yet the community is already speculating and asking questions. They wonder if console players will be joining the PC players in the same world and how that will affect their game play.