Warhorse Studios, the team behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance, has teased its upcoming Lord of the Rings game, and it sounds very exciting indeed.
Last week, Warhorse confirmed it is making a new game set in the Lord of the Rings universe following months of speculation. When Warhorse announced the Lord of the Rings game, it called it an “open world Middle-earth RPG,” so it's unclear which era of Tolkien’s fantasy setting the game takes place. But it seems likely to follow the template established by the studio’s hugely popular Kingdom Come: Deliverance games.
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The project is expected to still be a ways off from releasing, meaning we probably won't see it for a while. However, Warhorse teased some details during a recent community stream.
During the stream, Warhorse communications director Tobias Stolz-Zwilling said the next Kingdom Come game will release next fiscal year, meaning it's approximately a year or so away from release. The Lord of the Rings game, however, doesn't have a concrete timeline that can be shared yet, which suggests it's likely years away from seeing the light of day.
The Middle-earth team is led by Viktor Bocan, the design director on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Stolz-Zwilling noted that the Middle-earth game is a "passion project" and there's a "mind-blowing team" that's ready to dive deep into the universe to make a great game. He also described the game as "deeply immersive," with a "living world" packed with "interesting characters, memorable places, and of course a strong narrative focus." He went on to state that the team strives to be the "new kings" of the RPG genre with every project it makes, both in Kingdom Come and Middle-earth, and wants to continue to lean on the studio's formula that fans love so much.
"It's important to remind everyone we are only working on the games we want to work on in the way we want to work on them," Stolz-Zwilling continued. "It's our stuff."
"That stands us a bit apart a little bit... without s**t-talking anyone... only a little bit! Stands us a bit apart from maybe other big studios. As long as we have this power and trust I think we will absolutely rock."
There are a lot of Middle-earth games out there, including Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, which are some of the most beloved modern games in the franchise. However, there has never been an expansive and proper RPG in the universe. Most games in the series are action/adventure games, MMOs, or strategy games. Warhorse is looking to scratch an itch that fans have had for years, not unlike IO Interactive being tapped to make a 007 game after years of fan requests.
Warhorse's game enters development during a period when The Lord of the Rings is having a bit of a resurgence. Although the franchise has always remained in the zeitgeist, a new live-action film known as The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is actively in the works. Some of the cast from the original trilogy will return for the new film, giving it a degree of credibility among fans. It seems unlikely that the game will be released in time for that film, but there is another opportunity.
Stephen Colbert is penning the script for The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, a new film set over a decade after the death of Frodo and inspired by unadapted chapters from The Fellowship of the Ring. That film has no release date, so maybe there could be some synergy there later down the line.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN's news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.