Turbine secures $30 million investment

US-based massively multiplayer online games developer Turbine Entertainment has managed to secure a further $30 million in venture capital investment, according to reports.

It's thought that the funding has come from Columbia Capital, Tudor Ventures and previous Turbine investors Highland Capital Partners and Polaris Venture Partners.

The money will be used to fund two new MMO projects - Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings: Middle Earth Online. Vivendi Universal was originally lined up to publish the Tolkien licence, but Turbine took over the role in March.

The company has previously secured a venture capital investment of $18 million, which was spent on buying back Asheron's Call - a franchise Turbine had created - from Microsoft.

A release date for Middle Earth Online has yet to be announced, but D&D online is slated to launch in the autumn.