LOTR Gollum studio Daedalic Entertainment is reportedly leaving game development after the Lord of the Ring title’s disastrous launch.
Publisher Nacon and developer Daedalic announced the Gollum-starring stealth adventure in 2019. After multiple delays, the title finally hit store shelves earlier this year to dismal reviews.
The final product proved so flawed that Daedalic issued an apology addressing the performance hiccups, subpar visuals, and myriad technical glitches in the game’s final release.
However, a promise to set things right was not enough to alter the beleaguered game’s fate. Unfortunately, it seems Gollum’s downfall has changed how the 16 year-old studio will operate from here on out.
LOTR Gollum studio will no longer develop video games
Reportedly, Daedelic Entertainment will exit the game-making business as a development outfit. This is according to a statement translated from German website Games Wirtschaft (via Game Developer).
The studio reportedly issued a statement to the publication saying it hit a “difficult turning point” following the poorly received rollout of LOTR Gollum.
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Games Wirtschaft claims that, as a result of the Gollum debacle, the company plans to focus on publishing and marketing endeavors. Daedelic has, thus, decided to abandon game development for the foreseeable future.
In addition, the studio allegedly laid off 25 staff members, roughly a third of its workforce which only included 90-plus developers. And, in the wake of such a shakeup, another Lord of the Rings-branded game fell to the cutting room floor.
Daedelic never formally announced the second Lord of the Rings project, though it was supposedly meant to serve as a follow-up to Gollum.
As for the team’s existing LOTR game, there’s currently no official word on how the restructuring will impact future support in terms of patches meant to fix the game’s technical problems.