There was no way that a Lord of the Rings game based entirely on Gollum was going to turn out well. | Source: WB Games/YouTube
- Daedalic Entertainment, the developer behind the Edna & Harvey series, appears to be experiencing some financial difficulties.
- They recently abandoned A Year of Rain, and other financial woes put the release of The Lord of the Rings Gollum into question.
- This might be the best thing to happen to The Lord of the Rings franchise in a long time.
The Lord of the Rings has desperately needed some breathing room for a long time. No matter how many times they try, gaming companies have struggled – and mostly failed – to add anything truly unique when adapting J.R.R. Tolkien’s work.
That’s why so many LotR fans were dreading the release of Daedalic Entertainment’s “The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.”
It looks like we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Daedalic Entertainment is reportedly in financial trouble , which hangs a big question mark over the publisher’s Gollum title.
I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t be happier.
The Lord of the Rings Needs a Break
It’s not that I harbor any ill-will toward Daedalic. It’s never a good thing to see a company struggle, and I hope that no one ends up losing their job because of this.
But I am pleased that we might not have to suffer through yet another painful video game that trades on The Lord of the Rings brand. Tolkien’s universe is legendary, but it’s been adapted to death for nearly two decades running.
It needs time to breathe.
Move on to some other fantasy world. Plenty of people are disappointed with how Game of Thrones wrapped up, so why not make that franchise into a game series that actually sticks the landing?
There’s More To Fantasy Than Tolkien’s Work
The real kicker with most Lord of the Rings games is that they don’t feel like they even need the license.
Write Tolkien’s universe out of Shadow of War, and it’s still a solid fantasy game. It’s not like it was canon, anyway.
Hopefully, some good can still come out of this Daedalic situation. Maybe they’ll streamline their operations and double down on what they’re actually successful at – adventure games.
As long as they leave The Lord of the Rings alone.
We’ve already got to brace for that looming Amazon series, and the rumors about it haven’t inspired much confidence . But even if it does suck, we can take solace in the fact that at least we avoided a video game focused entirely on Gollum.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
