Warhorse Studios, the Czech-based team behind the medieval RPG series Kingdom Come, has confirmed long-standing rumours that its next project will be an adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.
Taking to social media recently, the group confirmed it actually has two major projects in development: a new game in the Kingdom Come series, and the game described as ‘an open world Middle-earth RPG’.
The announcement has sparked plenty of intrigue about what’s to come, given Warhorse’s style and approach to immersive medieval world-building, sleek combat, and character-driven narrative.
New Lord of the Rings game in development – quick links
What to know about Warhorse’s Lord of the Rings game
For now, Warhorse Studios hasn’t gone in-depth about what to expect of its Lord of the Rings game, although there are some clues in its initial teaser – so let’s break down what it reveals.
First up, the simplest tease. This will be an open world game. The last major open world Lord of the Rings games were the acclaimed Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, both of which were under the ‘Middle-earth‘ banner.
It’s possible Warhorse Studios’ game takes direct inspiration from these titles.
Given the original games were developed by the now-defunct Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, we don’t expect there will be continuity of story or plot, but perhaps similar ideas will be explored.
That’s also teased by the map underlaid on the announcement – it shows off the fictional cities of Mordor, Gondor, and Rohan, suggesting these may be key locations in the story.
The use of Middle-earth to describe the game in general should also be noted. We can assume this will mean the game focuses on events beyond the story of the One Ring’s journey to Mordor – perhaps exploring lesser-trodden Tolkien tales, or featuring an original story.
The next big tease is the use of the word ‘RPG’ as it relates to the work of Warhorse Studios.
How the Kingdom Come series could inspire the next big Lord of the Rings game
Between Kingdom Come and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Warhose Studios has developed a unique approach to the world of Role-Playing Games. Rather than presenting players a world to flit in and out of, both games in the KC series allow for immersive real-life-adjacent adventures and storytelling.
You can spend your time in these games wandering an historically-accurate medieval world, complete with period-relevant dialogue, activities, and political drama. Players also have active choice and agency in these games, so that their decisions shape how the action unfolds.
Should the studio’s Lord of the Rings adaptation lean into the experience and tastes of developers, we could see this adventure being a lush, detail-focussed Lord of the Rings adaptation with layers to its exploration, combat, activities, collectibles, and characters.
It really is a clever pairing, and Warhorse Studios feels very well-suited to telling stories within this universe, given the detail they typically apply to their games.
For now, a release date has not been confirmed. It feels more than likely we’ll be waiting a few years to hear more given modern game development cycles, but hopefully a proper look at what’s to come arrives sooner.
