The Lord of the Rings: Gollum delayed ‘a few months’ to meet player expectations

By Joseph Yaden July 25, 2022

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has been delayed by “a few months” in order to meet the community’s expectations, the game’s developer has announced. It was supposed to launch September 1, but will now release at a later, undisclosed date.

This was confirmed via the game’s official Twitter account today, with a message from developer Daedalic Entertainment. It’s unclear when the game will launch now, but Daedalic said it will update the community with the exact timing “in the near future.” Though it hasn’t been confirmed, it’s possible this game will now come out in 2023 if it doesn’t manage to make a November or December release.

An important message. pic.twitter.com/s2UvhPfILF

— The Lord of the Rings: Gollum (@GollumGame) July 25, 2022

This isn’t the first time The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has been delayed. It was first planned for a 2021 release window but was pushed to 2022. The most recent delay comes after the official gameplay reveal, which was shown during a Nacon event. The gameplay trailer was criticized for looking undercooked, with many YouTube commenters expressing concern for its overall quality. It seems developer Daedalic and publisher Nacon took these criticisms to heart, opting to extend development time rather than rushing it out this year. This is Daedalic’s biggest project to date, so it makes sense the studio wants to take more time to ensure it meets expectations.

As its name suggests, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum takes players on a journey as Gollum/Sméagol. Unlike many other games based on The Lord of the Rings, Gollum won’t feature traditional combat, instead leaning into stealth and platforming mechanics with light puzzle elements. It will also include branching narrative decisions that will hopefully give us reasons to replay the game.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is still slated to launch for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and even Nintendo Switch.

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Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…

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Gollum stares at the eye of Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: Gollum key art.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum finally has a release date. Daedalic Entertainment and Nacon confirmed during a hands-off preview event attended by Digital Trends that this unique Lord of the Rings game finally launches on September 1.
Daedalic Entertainment first announced The Lord of the Rings: Gollum in 2019, but the game was pushed back to 2022 when Nacon came on board as publisher. Thankfully, we won't have to wait much longer for this adventure as it's only a few months away. Since its announcement, the rights for Lord of the Rings games have gone up for sale, and EA has announced a mobile game based on the franchise. Thankfully, none of those developments seemed to have negatively impacted The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
Gollum will die in a direct confrontation, so he must stealthily dodge and take down enemies.
Digital Trends got an early look at The Lord of the Rings: Gollum via a hands-off demo. While this may seem like an odd comparison, imagine Uncharted's platforming in a stealth-focused game set in the Lord of the Rings universe. I saw Gollum hopping around ledges in both Mordor and Mirkwood as the developer carefully managed Gollum's stamina so he wouldn't fall off any ledges he was climbing.
Combat is minimal as Gollum has limited stamina he can use in attacks. As such, platforming and puzzle-solving will be the best ways to get through many situations. Throughout the game, players will also have to choose between the Gollum and Sméagol personalities during key story moments, and these decisions will impact the narrative.
Characters like Thranduil and Gandalf also made appearances in the demo. They sported looks more similar to their description in the books than how they were portrayed in the movies. While Gollum obviously isn't the prettiest protagonist, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has a distinct look and feel compared to any The Lord of the Rings game that has come before it.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on September 1. A Nintendo Switch version is also in the works, but does not have a release window outside of 2022.