EA has announced a partnership with Middle-earth Enterprises to develop a new free-to-play Lord of the Rings game for mobile.

The Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-earth will be a collectable RPG offering a "social-competitive experience". It is being developed my Capital Games, the studio behind Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes - a similar squad-building RPG for iOS and Android.

"We are incredibly excited to partner with Middle-earth Enterprises on the next generation of mobile role-playing games," said EA's VP of mobile RPG, Malachi Boyle.

"The team is filled with fans of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and each day they bring their tremendous passion and talents together to deliver an authentic experience for players."

Not a lot about the game has been revealed yet, although Boyle revealed it will features characters from across JRR Tokien's books: "The combination of high-fidelity graphics, cinematic animations, and stylised art immerses players in the fantasy of Middle-earth where they’ll go head-to-head with their favourite characters."

A limited beta test will begin this summer in a currently unannounced region. There are no details on a full launch schedule as yet.

Capital's other game, Galaxy of Heroes, is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play now.