This isn't rocket science. I think we can all imagine this game when we close our eyes - something that captures the freedom of Skyrim but does it on an even grandeur scale- A recreation of Middle earth where you can follow the main story or just wander off on your own adventures. I mean, The beauty of Tolkien’s world is that there’s so much more than just the War of the Ring. There are thousands of years of history, countless untold stories, and endless places to explore. We could have new heroes, fresh quests, and a world that feels alive and open to our own interpretations.
This shouldn’t be difficult!
And yet… nothing.
Instead we are getting things like that awful Gollum game. And I don’t want to turn this into a roast, but let’s just say that game had the same energy as a school play where all the props are cardboard and everyone forgot their lines. And now we got “Tales of the Shire” that isn't bad (or at least not as bad as the internet pretends it is) But that is not the game we are waiting for. A cozy shire game sounds delightful, sure, but that's a hobbit simulator - not a Lord of the Rings game.
It makes no sense. Tolkien gave us the ultimate fantasy sandbox. Why aren’t we playing in it? The lore is deep. The world is rich. The audience is massive and starving for more. You’ve got the rights, the tech, the blueprint - so what’s the holdup?
I don’t want to stealth through corridors as Gollum. I don’t want to be forced into someone else's story. I want to live in Middle-earth. Let me be a dwarven blacksmith who drinks too much and gets caught up in an orc ambush. Let me be an elf bard who joins a traveling company of adventurers. Let me fight in the War of the Last Alliance or just run a tavern in Bree and eavesdrop on rumors all day.
The magic of Tolkien is that his world feels real. Not because of the dragons and rings and prophecies - but because of the little moments. The meals. The songs. The long, slow walks. The way everyone talks about the past. That's what the games always miss. They try to make Lord of the Rings into an action franchise when what makes it special is how personal it feels.
We’ve built massive, living, breathing open-worlds before. We’ve done historical fantasy. We’ve done dragons. We’ve done magic systems and political factions and moral consequence. If we can do it for The Witcher, if we can do it for Skyrim, if we can do it for Elden Ring, then why on earth can’t we do it for the most detailed, lore-rich fantasy universe ever created?
Make it first-person. Make it third-person. Make it single-player or co-op or multiplayer. Just make it!
We have waited long enough. Middle-earth deserves better.
We wants it! We needs it!.
