The developers of Kingdom Come: Deliverance already have two hit games with both releases in their medieval RPG series, but it seems they might next be taking a step into the fantasy genre. If the latest rumor spreading throughout the industry is true, Warhorse Studios could be working on an open-world game set in the world of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings franchise. Perhaps most excitingly though, these rumors seem to have some merit.
It all started back in October, following Insider Gaming’s report that a new Lord of the Rings title was in development with partial funding from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, and further, that an Embracer Group studio was involved in the deal. Fast forward to now and Ryszard Chojnowski, Polish gaming industry figure, has just claimed that Warhorse is developing a huge Lord of the Rings RPG game. Warhorse themselves are Czech, but Chojnowski claims to have known of the story for a while but was waiting for more confirmation to share it.
To be specific about his credentials, Chojnowski is a localization professional based in Poland, working with big name companies from Blizzard to Epic Games to CD Projekt Red since the 90s. The rumors from insider gaming and Chojnowski also touch on the budget, which is estimated to be around $100 million with funding from both Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi if the story is true. This would be a huge leap in scale from their last release with Kingdom Come: Deliverance II having a budget of around $40 million.
Warhorse Studios have perfected the medieval RPG genre, making them perhaps a perfect fit for Middle-Earth. However, there is some controversy recently following the studio being accused of firing members of its localisation team to replace them with AI. For more developments on this rumored story, and all things happening in the world of gaming, stay tuned to GameObserver!
