Daedalic Entertainment’s The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has received widespread negative reception as it’s currently ranked as the lowest scoring game of 2023. Not only has Gollum cost the German developer considerable time and resources, it has also dealt a serious blow to the company’s future in game development.
A couple days ago, the Hamburg-based developer announced they will be pulling out of internal game development and refocusing on game publishing. First reported by German media outlet Games Wirtschaft, this drastic move was likely due to the critical failure of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which launched in May. Daedalic described this decision as a “difficult turning point” and “a new beginning in the long history of Daedalic Entertainment”.
Instead of development, Daedalic will focus their full efforts on publishing; titles like Unrailed, Barotrauma, Inkulinati, Witch It, and Shadow Tactics among others are still slated for this current financial year. Daedalic has already taken measures to end development, such as terminating 25 of over 90 employees. Daedalic Management commented that they “value each and every member of [their] team” and that it’s imperative to them that “the transition goes as smoothly as possible”. Along these lines, Daedalic declared their intention to help their former workers “find new opportunities within [their] network”.
Daedalic has also ceased development on another The Lord of the Rings project, which began in mid-2022. Daedalic pulling the plug here puts the developer in hot water since the Ministry of Economic Affairs (BMWK) pledged over €2 million in subsidies for the project, which will no longer see the light of day; Daedalic has notified BMWK of this occurrence. This revelation all but confirms Gollum‘s role in this chain of events.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is currently out on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows. Gollum will launch on Nintendo Switch later this year.