Warhorse Studios, the studio behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance, is building an open world RPG set in Middle-earth, and the studio's leadership has started laying out what players can expect from the ambitious project.
The confirmation arrived last week after months of speculation, followed by fresh details shared during a community stream. Warhorse communications director Tobias Stolz-Zwilling painted a picture of a game designed around immersion and scale. He described it as "deeply immersive" with a "living world" filled with "interesting characters, memorable places, and of course a strong narrative focus."
Viktor Bocan, who served as design director on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, is leading the Middle-earth effort. Stolz-Zwilling called the project a "passion project" staffed by a "mind-blowing team" ready to dive into Tolkien's universe.
The studio is positioning itself as eager to dominate the RPG space. Stolz-Zwilling emphasized that Warhorse strives to be the "new kings" of the genre with every project it tackles, leaning on a formula that has already won over fans with the Kingdom Come series. He also highlighted the studio's independence in choosing its projects and how it executes them.
"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 said. "It's our stuff."
That autonomy, he suggested, sets Warhorse apart from larger studios working under different constraints. The statement underscores the studio's confidence in its creative direction for both the Kingdom Come franchise and the Middle-earth venture.
There's a significant gap between the two projects in terms of timeline. Warhorse confirmed that the next Kingdom Come game will arrive next fiscal year, putting it roughly 12 months away. The Lord of the Rings title, by contrast, has no announced release window. That silence suggests the game is still years away from launch.
The Lord of the Rings video game landscape has largely been dominated by action and adventure titles. The Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War franchises stand out as beloved modern entries, yet neither is a traditional RPG. Strategy games, action titles, and MMOs have filled most other corners of the Tolkien gaming space. A full-featured RPG has remained an unexplored niche, and Warhorse appears intent on filling it.
The timing arrives as The Lord of the Rings enjoys a cultural resurgence beyond games. A new live-action film titled The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum is in active development and will reunite cast members from Peter Jackson's original trilogy. Stephen Colbert is penning another film, The Lord of the Rings: Shadow of the Past, which will explore material set after Frodo's story concludes. Neither has a confirmed release date.
Author Emily Chen: "Warhorse has done something smart here, stepping into a genre gap that millions of Middle-earth fans have been waiting to see filled, and they're confident enough not to rush it."
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