It’s hard to argue that Tolkien’s Middle-earth isn’t the biggest fantasy franchise of all time. Dating all the way back to the 1930s, this beautiful world had slowly been built throughoutThe Hobbit,The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and only grew wildly more beloved thanks to Peter Jackson’s seminal film trilogy. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t heard of it in some capacity, and all things Tolkien continue today with media like The War for Rohirrim andAmazon’s The Rings of Power.
However, it has never quite reached the same height of popularity achieved by The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, with The Hobbit trilogy, War for Rohirrim, and The Rings of Power all receiving a milder reception and more criticism. But you would think that a fantasy series as big as this would dominate the video game industry, with so much potential and a century of world-building. And for a long time, it did, with a series of beloved tie-ins that we can’t help harbouring mountains of nostalgia for.
Nowadays though, it seems that any games that follow in the footsteps of the remaining Middle-earth media, we’re left hoping for more.
The World’s Biggest Fantasy IP Is Struggling For Good Games
In recent years, there have been a few The Lord of the Rings games, each of which has missed the mark despite their concepts seeming great on paper. 2023’sThe Lord of the Rings: Gollumfollowed the precious little gremlin between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, making use of stealth as the primary gameplay mechanic. However, it was notably janky and low-quality, referred to as a troubled project that underwent several delays during development. Ultimately, it wasn’t received well by critics or players, and Daedalic Entertainment has since halted development and become a publisher exclusively.
Also in 2023, we receivedThe Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. This survival game has you, either alone or with friends, take on the role of the dwarves as they return to the Mines of Moria to re-settle, taking back their home from the darkness. Though it also received largely underwhelming reviews, it remained solid for those who found charm in it.
Finally, we have the recently releasedTales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game. You might have already seen a number of reviews and opinions on this one, but it comes as no surprise to see the pattern repeated once more. Similar to that of Gollum, Tales of the Shire reportedly had a troubled development with several delays,and some who worked on it were surprised it ever managed to launch.
Underneath, it’s not a bad game, but it’s certainly rough around every edge, noticeably missing out on the potential that it could - and should - have met.
The Lord Of The Rings Games Used To Be Great
If you look back at the peak popularity of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy during the early 2000s, you’ll find several great movie tie-in games. They were simple, but we never asked for anything more back then. You take the roles of characters during events of the movie, and fight your way through levels of familiar locations and enemies. These games also had co-op, which made it that much more fun to grab a second controller and have a good time with your friends and family.
2007 saw the release of The Lord of the Rings Online. This MMO was set to let players loose in Middle-earth, attempting to offer an experience akin to Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. While it never quite reached the same heights, it was successful, and is still supported today with the most recent expansion, Legacy of Morgoth, having launched in late 2024.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North followed in 2011, which introduced three original protagonists, once again acting as a co-operative action experience, where you’d fight through levels depicting events taking place in the North during the War of the Ring. It was a decent game, and reviews reflected that - it wasn’t special, but it was at least a pretty good time
Shout out to LEGO The Lord of the Rings and LEGO The Hobbit.
Finally, we had 2014’sMiddle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, a solid action game with a unique setting that introduced the patentedNemesis System, in which Uruks would remember you and even hunt you down with a vengeance, while fighting between themselves for promotions in the hierarchy. Following this was the sequelMiddle-earth: Shadow of Warin 2017, which was once again heaped with praise. However, developer Monolith Productions was shut down earlier this year, while Warner Bros. will continue to retain rights to the Nemesis System until 2036.
Now there is nothing on the horizon.
How Do We Get Good The Lord Of The Rings Games?
So, what’s the answer? Well, my first answer would be to not shut down the developers of successful games for the sake of ‘restructuring’, butwhat do I know?
However, the likelihood is that companies are banking on the popularity of The Lord of the Rings, convinced that the namesake alone is enough to guarantee success. Those nerds sure do love their fantasy IP, right? They’ll eat it up. At a corporate level, it’s a cash-grab, except they’re trying to grab it with a blindfold and oven mitts.
No matter how capable or passionate your developers are, if you apply unnecessary pressure and mismanagement, all fuelled by greed,it’s not going to work. I’ll give you that one for free, boys in suits, and I know you sure do love free things.
The best answer for future The Lord of the Rings games, and perhaps the series as a whole, is for the IP to be granted out. Stop trying to put Middle-earth in our hands on the basis of nostalgia, and instead, put Middle-earth in the hands of passionate developers who have the freedom to realise their visions.
Developers who are fans of Tolkien’s world and have grown up with it dreamt of the Shire and Rivendell and the hellish gates of Mordor from a young age. The series is almost 100 years old, and those successful movies are over 20 years old, so it’s going to take a bit more than a fading reputation and rushed (and then delayed) development.
I’d rather see a wide range of games from different developers, all sharing their visions of Middle-earth and the layers of potential waiting to be explored, rather than more years of mismanagement and ensuing silence because the boardrooms couldn’t grab enough cash the easy way.
