Obviously “the” is a critical part of the trademark. Lawyers win that debate.
But why did the marketers win the “a… game” debate?
It could have been, “The Lord of the Rings: whatever whether Hobbit farm” and avoided all the weirdness.
That seems weirder to me to be honest. Like the recent The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. Just call if Return to Moria and make a LotR badge for marketings sake. Same here.
I’ll accept Middle-Earth though.
A Story from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of the Shire
I can understand the decision somewhat.
Putting “The Lord of the Rings” first in the title would imply that this furthers the main canon, when it’s actually only set in its universe.
They could have indeed chosen a better subtitle though, like “from The Lord of the Rings”.
Trademark moment
“Tales from the Shire: A Lord of the Rings game” they probably just have a few “A Lord of the Rings game”(s) in the pipeline
So I missed it the first time. But the title is “A The Lord of the Rings Game”. Assumedly to maintain copyright, they did not drop the “The” from “The Lord of the Rings” even though they started with “A”
That would probably be trademark, not copyright.
Also, the trailer refers to Hobbits as “creatures” instead of “people.”
What’s with a little fantasy dehumanization, eh, eh?
