According to Daedalic Entertainment, the game’s developer, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will be released in “fall 2022.”
The developer notes in a new FAQ on the game’s Steam page, “Our current objective to release the game is Fall 2022,” which corresponds to the window that was mentioned in a video back in July 2021. Despite the fact that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum’s release date was previously postponed from 2021 to 2022 in January of last year, this new reiteration of the timeframe seems encouraging.
“All elements” of the game have been “approved by Middle-earth Enterprises (the exclusive rights holders to motion picture, merchandise, stage, services, and other rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit books) in order to ensure that the game is accurate to the underlying work of Tolkien,” Daedalic Entertainment states in the FAQ. “
Canonically speaking, the game’s plot is said to be “parallel” with Gollum’s early days in Mordor, including his capture by Sauron and interrogation by Gandalf.
In order to distinguish itself from previous video game adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, the game is attempting to carve itself its own niche. Going from the FAQ, it’s clear that Gollum isn’t going to look anything like Peter Jackson’s rendition “We wanted to give the universe and its characters our own unique perspective. Gollum: Lord of the Rings: Gollum, on the other hand, is both original and faithful to the original source material.”
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC when it comes later this year.
Analysis: What’s next?
Recently, Bethesda has announced the delay of both Starfield and Redfall, with the latter being pushed back until 2023. It’s wonderful to see a release date reiterated, especially one that’s so close.
We don’t know when the actual release date will be. A busy time for gaming news and updates awaits us in June, when Summer Game Fest kicks out, with a wide variety on offer from the industry’s leading developers and publishers.
The FAQ for Lord of the Rings: Gollum states that additional information on gameplay is coming “soon” and promises that the page will be updated with more material “throughout the approaching weeks,” which is a good sign for the future of the game.
A fresh trailer was released in December, and gameplay was shown at the 2021 Future Game Show in March before that. The team hasn’t exactly been reticent about promoting the game over the past year.
The official Twitter account for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum also revealed that the game was shown to the press and other invited guests at Nacon’s Big Ben Week earlier this month, with the promise that “more details will be shared soon,” so it really feels like an update is just around the corner..