After denying rumors last year that suggested they were working on one The Lord of the Rings game, Warhorse Studios, the team behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance The RPG series has now confirmed that it is indeed developing a Middle-earth RPG. For me, this is some of the best news I've heard all year, as I'm probably just as much a fan of The Lord of the Rings which I am of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. The open-ended RPG formula Warhorse has arguably been perfected in its KCD comics, which are now being used to bring Middle-earth to life, is something I've been dreaming of since I first heard the rumors, as I'm convinced that if anyone can finally do Tolkien's world justice in the realm of gaming, it's them.
But this is about much more than Midgard eventually becoming an open-world playground. As a veteran The Lord of the Rings online players, I've experienced that fantasy world in a seamless space before, and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent in it. But my confidence that Warhorse can deliver one The Lord of the Rings Open world RPGs worth playing are ultimately rooted in what I've already seen them do Kingdom Come: Deliverance and how it can and likely will translate to Middle-earth. It's the developer's approach to the open world formula in general that I appreciate, and I have a feeling that it won't abandon that philosophy and fall into the same trap that many other open world games have such a hard time avoiding.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance Dev Confirms New Franchise Entry and Lord of the Rings RPG
Warhorse Studios confirms rumors of a new Kingdom Come: Deliverance title alongside a new game in the Lord of the Rings universe.
Warhorse Studios has proven that they understand the value of discovery
Clearly, Warhorse Studios has proven its ability to create an RPG that feels authentic and grounded while still offering a playable, entertaining experience. With its emphasis on historical realism i Kingdom Come: Deliverance game, it gives players a chance to experience what life might have actually been like in medieval Bohemia, from how people dressed and spoke to the social hierarchies, religious tensions, and everyday struggles that shaped their world. But by creating such a believable world, it has also shown how much it understands the value of discovery.
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance is first and foremost a world that players can live in. Sure, a narrative rolls over it all, but at the center of that story is a common protagonist. He's lovable and charming, but he was also purposely designed to stay out of the limelight. Instead, he's more akin to the shoes players wear as they explore Warhorse's faithful recreation of medieval Bohemia. In that context, the open world is the protagonist, and Henry, the player, is just a side character trying to thrive within it.
Because of that, tremendous care was taken to ensure that Bohemia felt like a world rather than an environment—a world that felt alive, not just because of the dynamic, routine-driven NPCs that populated it, but because of what players could discover when they ventured off the beaten path. Actually both Kingdom Come: Deliverance games go out of their way to ensure that the main quest never gets in your way, resulting in a beaten path that is very easily ignored in favor of whatever curiosity happens to pull you in the opposite direction. This is where Warhorse's open world design shines, as the discovery in Kingdom Come rarely feels like it exists to fill out a map.
So much of what can be discovered in a warhorse world isn't marked on a map
Unfortunately, too many open-world games fall into the trap of turning the content into a checklist of chores rather than a hidden (or somewhat hidden) list of meaningful discoveries. Maps in these games are often filled with exclamation points and other icons that essentially tell players where to go and what to do. A lot of this probably comes from developers not wanting an open world that feels empty, so they avoid negative space when and where they can by shoving another activity or collectible into it. But even then, pointless activities can make open worlds feel even emptier than they were without them. In the end, it all depends on how the negative space is utilized.
To be fair, there is absolutely nothing wrong with an open world game having a huge number of activities for players to do. Rather, the error comes up in how it is run. For example, Crimson Deserts open world can take players hundreds upon hundreds of hours to complete, and yet it has a way of not making that amount of content feel overwhelming. It accomplishes this by keeping the majority of its content a mystery on the map, thereby encouraging players to discover it for themselves. In turn, it frees them from the pressure to do specific activities while ensuring they don't feel like they're leaving anything behind by choosing a particular path.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance is first and foremost a world in which players can live.
Warhorse's Kingdom Come: Deliverance games are very similar, as they rely on players to find the world by paying attention to it, rather than by chasing every icon that appears on the map. Some of the most memorable moments in these games come from hearing something strange, following a path simply because it looks interesting, wandering into a camp at the wrong time, or realizing that a seemingly ordinary NPC has a problem that could turn into a much bigger story. That kind of discovery makes the world feel like a place that exists beyond the player's involvement, and for an open-world RPG, that makes all the difference.
Warhorse's Middle-earth RPG may have already avoided the open-world trap
It's that story that tells me whatever Warhorse is cooking up in the form of one The Lord of the Rings RPGs are bound to avoid making Middle-earth feel like an amusement park with familiar locations and map markers. It's by far the easiest trap for a game like this to fall into, especially with a world as beloved and recognizable as Tolkien's. The temptation would be to fill the map with things players already know, point them to every major landmark, and make it all feel like a guided tour through Middle-earth's greatest hits. But if Warhorse wears his Kingdom Come philosophy of this project, Middle-earth will likely feel more like a place that players will slowly come to understand by living in it, listening to it, and letting curiosity lead them somewhere they didn't originally intend to go.
To me, that's why Warhorse's involvement is so exciting. A The Lord of the Rings The open-world RPG can very easily collapse under the pressure of its own source material, especially if it misses scale, references, and recognizable locations for memorable exploration. Warhorse has already shown that it knows how to make an open world feel full without constantly telling players where the fullness is, and that might be just what Middle-earth needs. If this new game follows the same design instinct, it may have already avoided one of the genre's biggest pitfalls before players even see it.
- Created by
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JRR Tolkien
- Where to look
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HBO Max
- movie(s)
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The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
