Warner Bros. has added Turbine to its family of wholly owned game developers, after it was announced that the media giant recently acquired the Lord of the Rings Online developer for a rumoured $160 million.

This acquisition completes Warner’s sweep of rights ownership for games based on the Lord of the Rings universe, after attaining the rights for videogames based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary works as well as Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, while simultaneously cementing the company’s relationship with Turbine after previously investing in the developer.

Turbine president and CEO Jim Crowley said in a statement:

“We have been looking to expand access to our online worlds to more players and more markets. This acquisition is very exciting because it allows us to expand globally while continuing to focus on creating spectacular online games that our loyal fans and players have come to expect.”

Turbine would also be known for its work on Dungeons and Dragons Online (which recently shifted to a free-to-play model) and the long-running Asheron’s Call massively multiplayer online RPG.

The acquisition of Turbine continues Warner Bros.’ pattern of growth via studio acquisition, after having acquired Monolith, TT Games (Traveller’s Tales), Snowblind, Surreal Software, Midway Games Chicago (now WB Games Chicago) and a chunk of Midway’s assets and intellectual property (including Mortal Kombat, Joust and Spy Hunter) in the space of five years, as well as the recent majority stake purchase of Batman: Arkham Asylum developer, Rocksteady Studios.

From 2006 to 2008, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment also held major shares in Sci Entertainment/Eidos, until that company’s acquisition by Square Enix.