Lord of the Rings Gollum Game: All of the Details So Far

When people think of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a few things immediately come to their mind: the One Ring itself, Gandalf, and of course, Gollum. Everyone’s favorite ring-obsessed creature has become a well-known character, and even people who know nothing of the franchise at least know a little of Gollum.

So, having a Gollum game makes perfect sense. Here’s everything you need to know about The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. 

The game is being developed and published by Daedalic Entertainment, with Nacon also signing on as a co-publisher. In a 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Carsten Fichtelmann, CEO and co-founder of Daedalic, gave more information on what we can expect story-wise from the game.

According to that article, the game will take place between the time Gollum gets the One Ring, but before the movies’ events happen. Considering the character is hundreds of years old, the game can take place 5 years or 50 years before we encounter Gollum in The Hobbit, his first appearance in the franchise. 

So, they have plenty of freedom for the character and the story until the timeline has to match the movies and novel. Although nothing has been confirmed, it will be interesting to see whether we run into established characters from the franchise. On top of that, it would be incredible to see famous Middle-earth locations become incorporated into the game. 

In an IGN interview, Martin Wilkes and Tilman Schanen, lead designers for the game, explained more about the gameplay. The game will focus heavily on being stealthy, and making choices that will affect the course of the story.

Gollum is small, but he can fight when he has to, especially when it pertains to the One Ring. That being said, it does make sense for him to be sneaking around, considering the powerful beings that reside in Middle-Earth. 

Wilkes in the IGN interview explains,” It is mostly a non-combat game, but Gollum will be able to stealthily take out enemies.” So, it sounds like the game won’t be action-packed, full of fighting and combat, but there will be certain moments where the player will choose to attack enemies if the opportunity arises.

So, this Gollum Game will be different from previous Lord of the Rings games such as the Middle-earth series, and the video game adaptions of the films. 

The second huge element of the Gollum game is decision-making. Players will have to make choices that will decide how the game is played. The creature known as Gollum was once a hobbit named Smeagol, and that personality sometimes comes out in the films. It will be the same in the game with players deciding between Gollum and Smeagol’s choices. 

Carsten Fichtelmann in the Hollywood Reporter interview said this about the decision-making of the game: 

“You already have that big conflict in the character, two voices talking to you continuously, which means there is a good reason there are decisions to make in the game: the Smeagol decisions or the Gollum decision.” 

Daedalic is a German developer, having developed their first game, Edna and Harvey: The Breakout, back in 2008. Some of their most recent games include State of Mind, Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth, and The Long Journey Home. Their impressive resume doesn’t end there, as they’re also a publisher. Some of the games they’ve published are Shadow Tactics: Blade of the Shogun, Barotrauma, and Dead Synchronicity. 

Nacon is a French publisher that has a long list of published games, ranging back to 2002. Warhammer: Chaosbane, Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood, and Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong are just some of the games they’ve published. 

There have been a few teasers here and there showing a sneak peek of gameplay, and it looks spectacular. Sneaking around giant beings, crawling to stay out of sight, and climbing on perilous ledges seems like an exciting time.

Andy Serkis voiced Gollum in the film trilogy, and his iconic performance has been cemented in movie history. That being said, the voice actor for this Gollum game sounds great and sounds similar to Andy Serkis, although he only said a little in this teaser. 

Originally meant for release in 2021, Daedalic announced that the game’s release date was pushed back until 2022. With how complex the gameplay sounds with the different choices, it’s good the developers take their time to make the game as good as possible. 

Although The Lord of the Rings: Gollum won’t come out until next year, we’re still going to be counting down the days until we can play as our favorite hobbit turned monster. 

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