Last year, you might recall a story about Daedalic Entertainment possibly bringing a game based on Tolkien's famous series The Lord of the Rings to the Nintendo Switch. Well, it seems it really is happening!
During the Future Games Show it was confirmed the German company's recently announced action-adventure game, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, would be making its way to the Switch "late" next year.
This new title sees the player take control of Gollum, and "mixes stealth with vertical climbing parkour" across "sets of levels and hubs" according to the lead game designer, Martin Wilkes. Here's what he had to say to IGN earlier this week:

"If you want a reference you might think of it as similar to Prince of Persia. It is mostly a non-combat game, but Gollum will be able to stealthily take out enemies. However, this will not be easy and always come with big risks. We want players to carefully weigh these encounters. After all, Gollum’s strengths lie in cunning not combat."
Lead narrative designer, Tilman Schanen, explained how decision-making and dialogue choices will also come into play:
"the decisions you make affect the way the game feels. You always either play as Sméagol or as Gollum as the 'dominant' persona and that can influence animations, soundscapes, certain gameplay situations, and in-game dialogue."
Although there's decision-making, the developer will stay true to the source material and says Gollum's fate is already "pretty-much determined" by the books, as the game is based on the original book license (not the movies).
"We start our story parallel to the first book when Frodo is still in the Shire and knows nothing about anything. Gollum at that time ventures to Mordor still desperately looking for Bilbo Baggins and the Ring. Unfortunately, he gets caught by Sauron’s servants and this is basically where our story begins."
Does this sound like a game you would be interested in playing on your Nintendo Switch? Tell us down below.
[source ign.com]
Comments 45
How the hell are they going to bring it to the switch. I'm happy thou.
So that explains the graphics from the original images 😉
Cool surprise! I thought it was only coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X, so I'll be waiting for more info soon, as the project is looking really promising.
We wants it! We NEEDS it!
My PRECIOUS!
Glad it's confirmed for Switch, definitely interested now.
Also confirms the rumors about a new Switch model.
Switch Pro confirmed. 😉
Day 1.
G2c gg eb re
Oh my god!!! This looks fantastic! Late 2021 seems so long away.
I thought that it was a WB development.
Good to hear that is coming to the Switch.
If it runs well I'll certainly buy it.
Now I just wish that WB would announce the Batman series 🦇
It would be amazing to play it on the go.
Yes can't wait to return to Middle-Earth again. Also Jurassic World Evolution is coming to Switch too. Can't wait for that as well.
I can't believe the LotR movies are approaching 20 years old.. Looking forward to this game!
Surely this means we’re getting a high end Switch model next year as well. Imma have to save up money for this, PS5, and a Nvidia GTX 3090... 😐
Why is everyone saying this confirms the new Switch model? This game is gonna be released on current gen like Xbox One VCR as well and the game doesn’t look amazing.
This doesn’t confirm jack.
Wow, this was unexpected! If it's good, I'll buy it day one. I'm a LotR fanatic!
LOTR fan here of books & films. I'll most likely get this, but I get the feeling the "franchise" is being squeezed out sometimes.
Still, seems to have some promise....
Good news 😊👏 Keep it coming 😊
The one thing I was gonna buy a ps5 for is now coming to switch, neat.
Nice surprise, didn't expect this to be a Switch title.
I shudder to think about a next gen game running on Switch.
It's gonna be a rough few years for multiplats if Nintendo don't have new hardware lined up
@durr this isn’t a Next Gen game
"The Switch version will be launching 'later'."
6 months later
"The Switch version has unfortunately had to be cancelled."
Honestly - save yourself time reading any articles about this game appearing on Switch by reading the two above.
...or the optimistic version:
"The Switch version will be launching 'later'."
6 months later
"OMG the Switch version of Gollum looks TERRIBLE. It doesn't even run at 1080p 60FPS. The grass looks like something out of a COMPUTER GAME! UNPLAYABLE!"
Well it would be nice to get a new beefy switch next year but if this in fact does come to the switch late next year, then maybe we won’t. Anyway this game could be nice, but it’s be a nice surprise if there’s a fun fishing game tucked away in its anterior. Just Sméagol kicking back in his boat with a trucker hat, a blade of grass hanging off his lip, and a good ole rod and reel.
Finally an LOTR game I can get behind. I'm a huge LOTR fan, since long before the movies, and Gollum is a very cool character who deserves a good game. LOTR has never really been about great heroes smashing through hordes of orcs, it's about "little guys" rising to the occasion when cataclysmic events overturn their world. Gollum is perfect for this. He's almost useless as a melee fighter and driven by enormous internal conflict. I'm excited to see what they do with the idea.
"Late 2021" seems decades away right now, but I'll be waiting.
I honestly want to see more of the game. On a somewhat related note, I wouldn't mind if Switch got its own separate version like when GBA used to get its own edition of some multiplat games. Not happening because development is really expensive now, but it would be interesting to see something better than most mobile games and different from the standard console editions.
This game would have saved the direct.
So they confirmed rumors are becoming more closer to the truth there is a New Switch coming. The rabbit is out of the bag now and for all the rumors from Taiwan that foretells of a new model one is coming out. Nintendo said nothing new for 2020 but they never said nothing for 2021 either.
Wow, some people are reading way too much into this. This isn't even a "next-gen" game, considering it's also releasing on the current gen.
Can't wait to Mirror's Edge my way through Mordor with Gollum!
@TYRANACLES
Gollum fishing never connected with trucker hats in my mind, but thanks for the chuckle!
I do like the idea for a mini game. And maybe riddle contests if you use Smeagol mode a lot 😁
I was just rereading The Hobbit so this news is a total pleasant surprise.
We hopes tricksy Furukawa has a Switch Pro in its pocketses, precioussssss.
@SwitchForce you’ve no idea what you’re talking about.
@tourjeff You read my mind. After Bioshock those are some of the "Well-duh-those-would-make-bank" games.
I've read through the entire LotR trilogy and have also seen the films. I absolutely love the franchise and would totally enjoy experiencing Gollum's point of view during his time in Mordor (and after).
We needs it!
Gollum was about my least favorite character from LotR, so a video game made for him was initially very surprising to see! However, the premise sounds promising, and I love LotR so much that I'll keep my eye on it at least.
@IronMan30 I miss seeing those as well: handheld iterations of bigger games/franchises with a smaller budget and more experimental gameplay. Back then however pixel art was the standard for handhelds, and these days the standard for ports are downgraded polygons rather than redesigning graphics built from the ground up for Switch.
actually interested... Let' hope it turns out great on Switch, with at least an equal focus on handheld performance, because I'm not going to get any games for my PS4 anymore, and I really don't enjoy playing on the tv anymore.
@Ulysses right, it was much cheaper back then. Not happening today, unfortunately.
@IronMan30 That's the mindset, at least. Nintendo gamers love retro games however! I don't see why publishers like Square Enix and Capcom feel like the boat has sailed on making modern pixel art titles for the Switch. Octopath Traveler, and even Dragon Quest XI's 2D mode, are proof enough that the Switch base could receive them positively.
Ehh, if they can resist the impulse to load it with microtransactions I'll consider it.
@Ulysses sure, but publishers are less willing to do that. That's more what I meant.
Fun fact: Shadow of War was supposed to have Gollum sections, but they were cut during production.
I love stealth, platforming, and exploration so this seems right up my alley. It also seems to be taking some cues from the Styx games which I quite enjoyed. Was keeping this on my radar already, but would especially love to play it on the Switch.
What's it got in its pocketses? A Switch Pro, precious?
Crazy i was only thinking of this game the Other day, i remember seeing a trailer a few months ago. Day one for me 😁
Harry Potter > Lord of the Rings
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