Daedalic Entertainment, the developer of the upcoming The Lord of the Rings: Gollum game, has been purchased by Nacon. The French company was already set to publish Gollum. The purchase of Daedalic is a further investment in the partnership the two companies already had. Besides the upcoming Gollum game, Daedelic Entertainment is perhaps best known for 2018’s State of Mind and the Deponia series.
Nacon announced that it would be purchasing Daedalic Entertainment for €53 million ($60 million). The purchase price is relatively small when compared to recent acquisitions in the industry. Microsoft’s $70 billion purchase of Activision and Sony’s $3.6 billion acquisition of Bungie blow this one out of the water. However, Nacon is a relatively small publisher compared to Activision or Ubisoft, another French publisher. The purchase of Daedalic Entertainment is a chance for Nacon to grow its staple of franchises.
Nacon is currently best known for the WRC, Cricket, and Rugby franchises. The company does have big games in the pipeline. Gollum is one of the most anticipated games of this year. The company is also responsible for the upcoming reboot of the Test Drive series. Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown is scheduled for release in September. The game will be the first Test Drive title in a decade. Nacon is reviving the franchise after purchasing the rights to it in 2016.
The purchase of Daedalic Entertainment is probably too late to have much impact on the development of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. The release of the game has been clouded in some uncertainty since it was announced. Originally, it was supposed to release in 2021. The game was delayed at the beginning of 2021 when Nacon and Daedalus announced a partnership to publish the game. However, it wasn’t clear why that partnership necessitated a delay of the game. Currently, the game has a “Fall 2022” release window.
