The Lord of the Rings: Gollum The developer, Daedalic Entertainment, has reaffirmed its commitment to a “fall 2022” release window for the game.
In a new FAQ posted on the game’s Steam page, the developer states, “Our current release target for the game is Fall 2022,” which matches the window that was revealed in a trailer in July 2021. : Gollum is a game that’s no stranger to delays, having been pushed back from 2021 to 2022 in January last year, but this new reiteration of the window is a promising sign that things are on the right track.
Elsewhere in the FAQ, Daedalic Entertainment confirms that “all elements” of the game have been “approved by Middle-earth Enterprises (the exclusive rights holders to film, merchandising, stage, services and other rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit) to ensure the game is faithful to Tolkien’s underlying work.
As for where the game fits into canon, its story runs “parallel to the opening chapters of The Lord of the Rings from the time of Gollum in Mordor, his capture by Sauron, and his interrogation by Gandalf.”
The game, however, tries to carve out its own space, separate from other Lord of the Rings adaptations. Gollum, for example, will not resemble Peter Jackson’s version of the character and the FAQ explains that the team “wanted to create our own unique take on the world and its characters. As such, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is original while being faithful to the literary source.”
When The Lord of the Rings: Gollum finally launches later this year, it will be playable on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
Analysis: what’s next?
It seems delay announcements are pretty common right now, the most recent being Bethesda’s announcement that Starfield and Redfall are being pushed back to 2023. So it’s nice to see a reaffirmed release window, especially one that is really very next.
As for when we’ll learn an exact release date, we can’t be sure. However, we are approaching a busy time for news and updates in the games industry with Summer Game Fest due to kick off in June, bringing with it a host of exciting streams from developers and publishers.
We don’t know whether or not we’ll see a new Lord of the Rings: Gollum update later this month, but the FAQ says more gameplay news is coming “soon” and promises the page will be updated. with more information “throughout the coming weeks”, which bodes well.
The team hasn’t exactly been shy around the game over the past year – we last got a new trailer at last year’s The Game Awards in December and before that the game has makes an appearance with gameplay at the Future Game Show in March 2021.
The official Lord of the Rings: Gollum Twitter account too revealed that the game was shown to the press and other guests during 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 may be imminent.