Just last week, the official Steam page for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum updated its FAQ section. With the developers announcing a targeted release window of Fall 2022, many fans began speculating about what the exact release date of this unique title could possibly be. Today, Daedalic Entertainment has announced that players can look forward to a return to Middle Earth on September 1, 2022. A physical version for consoles will be available alongside the digital release.
In December, a story trailer for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum premiered during The Game Awards 2021. A recent hands-off preview highlighted some of the more notable locations in the game, from Cirith Ungol in Mordor to the Elven realm of Mirkwood. It’s also clear that along with sneaking about (as we’d expect from Gollum), players will also be doing a fair bit of exploration around the vast environments of Tolkien’s world, scaling cliffs and avoiding danger.
Players will also be able to react to certain situations either as Sméagol, the character’s kinder self, or Gollum, with many choices impacting the story.
“After losing his precious ring to Bilbo Baggins, Gollum decides to leave the Misty Mountains and embark on a perilous journey that leads him from the dungeons of Barad-dur to the realm of the Wood-elves in Mirkwood,” the game’s description reads. “In order to survive the dangers of his journey through Middle-earth, Gollum has to sneak and climb and use all his cunning. He also has to deal with his Hobbit-self—Smeagol.
It’s up to the players if they want Gollum to have the upper hand when it comes to making important decisions, or if they prefer to allow Sméagol to take over. Gollum also encounters well-known characters from the books as well as a few new faces.”
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is scheduled to release on September 1 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Nintendo Switch version is also planned to be released later in the year. The title is launching only one day before Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power TV series is set to premiere.
