Fresh off Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s 5 million sales success, it looks like developer Warhorse Studios is wasting no time planning its next big adventures. In a surprise announcement via X (formerly Twitter), Warhorse Studios revealed that it is indeed working on an open-world RPG set in the Lord of the Rings‘ world, Middle-earth. At the same time, the studio also confirmed that a brand-new Kingdom Come is in development.
“You might have heard the rumours, it’s time to reveal what we are working on,” the account wrote, before listing two upcoming projects: an open-world ‘Middle-earth RPG’ and a new Kingdom Come. The post simply ended with, “We’re excited to tell you more when the time is right.” No planned release window, no art, nothing. For now, we will have to wait and see whether Warhorse Studios’ The Lord of the Rings game takes place during the Third Age and ties into the events of the books, or explores an entirely different corner of Middle-earth. Likewise, it’s still unclear whether the next Kingdom Come will continue Henry’s adventure or introduce a completely different main character and settings.
This sudden confirmation finally puts an end to speculations surrounding the Czech developer’s next move. Since around two months ago, whispers on the street suggested that Warhorse Studio had been quietly working on something beyond historical RPGs. Then Polish journalist Remigiusz Maciaszek reported that it was developing a Lord of the Rings-related game under the codename Revenge Studios, backed by a $100 million investment from Saudi-owned gaming giant Savvy Games Group.
Recently, Embracer has been pushing for more game adaptations of the Lord of the Rings franchise, though results have been mixed so far. Gollum was widely panned by critics and players alike. Other releases, which seem to be aiming at the multiplayer gaming trends, such as the cozy life sim Tales of the Shire and survival crafting Return to Moria, have also struggled to gain momentum.
Adding to the picture, the publisher also announced plans to move its ‘premium franchises,’ including Tomb Raider, Metro, Kingdom Come, Dead Island, Darksiders, Remnant, and The Lord of the Rings under its upcoming spin-off company, Fellowship Entertainment, in 2027. This announcement comes not long after Amazon canceled its unnamed The Lord of the Rings MMO.
Considering Warhorse Studios’ track record with Kingdom Come and the game’s scale, fans may finally have a Lord of the Rings RPG worth getting excited about. Keep up to date with Warhorse and Lord of the Rings gaming news on Game Observer.
