Warhorse Studios confirms new Middle-earth RPG

Warhorse Studios said on Wednesday it is developing an open-world role-playing game set in Middle-earth and a separate new game in its Kingdom Come franchise, confirming a project that had circulated for months in rumor reports. The Prague-based studio disclosed the two projects in a post on its official X account that said, “You might have heard the rumours, it’s time to reveal what we are working on.” The post listed “An open world Middle-earth RPG” and “A new Kingdom Come adventure,” and added that the studio would share more “when the time is right.” ### What exactly did Warhorse confirm on May 20? Warhorse Studios confirmed two games, not one, in its May 20 announcement: an open-world Middle-earth RPG and a new Kingdom Come project. The wording stopped short of naming either title or giving a platform list, release date or footage. (videogameschronicle.com) The official statement was brief, but it was explicit enough to end the narrower question of whether Warhorse was attached to a Lord of the Rings-related game. IGN, GameSpot and VGC each reported that the studio’s own post was the source of the confirmation. ### Where does Embracer fit into the announcement? (videogameschronicle.com) Embracer Group chief executive Phil Rogers said on a May 20 post-earnings call that Warhorse, which is owned by Embracer, is developing an open-world RPG set in the world of The Lord of the Rings. Reuters reported Rogers said the game “will be set in the fictional world of Middle-earth” and that Warhorse is also working on another game in its Kingdom Come: Deliverance franchise. (ign.com) Warhorse has been part of Embracer since 2019, when THQ Nordic AB’s indirectly wholly owned subsidiary Koch Media agreed to acquire the Prague studio for 33.2 million euros, according to Embracer’s release at the time. ### Is this the same thing as a new Lord of the Rings game? Middle-earth is the setting of J.R.R. (finance.yahoo.com) Tolkien’s works, including The Lord of the Rings, but Warhorse’s announcement used “Middle-earth RPG” rather than a full game title. Several outlets described it as a Lord of the Rings game based on Embracer’s earnings-call remarks and the setting reference, while the studio itself did not provide a subtitle, story details or rights language beyond the setting. (embracer.com) Reuters’ account tied the project directly to Embracer’s broader rights position by reporting that Rogers described it as a game “set in the world of The Lord of the Rings.” ### What do we know about the second project? Warhorse described the second game only as “a new Kingdom Come adventure.” The studio did not call it Kingdom Come: Deliverance 3, and it did not say whether the project is a mainline sequel, a spinoff or another format in the series. (gamespot.com) Warhorse’s website says the studio is the team behind the Kingdom Come: Deliverance series, which has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. (finance.yahoo.com) That gives the franchise commercial weight inside the company’s lineup, but the May 20 post included no sales target, launch timing or development order for the newly announced projects. ### How much else is public right now? (gematsu.com) May 20 is the only firm date attached to the announcement so far, and Warhorse has not published trailers, screenshots or a release window. The studio’s careers page says it focuses on expansive game worlds, RPGs and cinematic storytelling, but it does not identify the newly announced Middle-earth title by name. Embracer’s investor page lists its next formal report date as May 22 for its fourth-quarter and year-end report for fiscal 2024/25. (warhorsestudios.cz) Warhorse, for its part, said only that it would say more about both projects “when the time is right.” (embracer.com) (warhorsestudios.cz)