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What has Geoff Keighley got in his pockets? Gameses! In addition to enough “World Premieres” to form a fellowship, it seems likely that the host will also reveal new information on The Lord of the Rings: Gollum at The Game Awards on December 9.
Earlier today, in a tweet from the game’s official Twitter account, Daedalic posted a short video of Gollum emerging from the shadows to tackle an armored orc. The trailer then smash cut to a date–December 9–before revealing the TGA logo. The text of the tweet reads, “Something’s lurking in the shadows… Tune in to #TheGameAwards on December 9! #LordOfTheRings #GollumGame”
Over the past few years, the Keighley-hosted event has become a popular spot to showcase trailers for upcoming games, including a first look at The Outer Worlds at the 2018 show and a reveal trailer for Perfect Dark in 2020.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was first announced in 2019 with a planned 2021 release. But, like a lot of launch dates in the pandemic-era, the game was pushed back to 2022. The game is set to launch on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Switch. Though it has a loose window of Fall 2022, we don’t yet have a firm release date. We similarly don’t know a ton about the game at this point, but it seems that player choice will be a big part of the gameplay.
“You already have that big conflict in the character, two voices talking to you continuously,” Carsten Fichtelman, Daedalus CEO and co-founder told The Hollywood Reporter in 2019. “Which means there is a good reason there are decisions to make in the game: the Smeagol decisions or the Gollum decision.” Fichtelman also stated that the game is set prior to the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books.
After a busy 2000s, the 2010s were fairly light on video games set in Middle-earth. Though the first half saw a few releases, including two LEGO games and the blockbuster Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, the second half of the decade brought us a sequel, Shadow of War, and very little else. But, with Amazon’s (reportedly very expensive) The Lord of the Rings series expected to debut next year, it seems likely that a big brand revival is just over the Misty Mountains.
