Oh boy, it's real: the Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 dev is making a new The Lord of the Rings RPG in Middle-earth — and a third KCD game is coming next year, too

For several weeks now, rumors have been swirling about the next big RPG project from Warhorse Studios, the developer behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 — one of last year's most critically acclaimed titles across Xbox, PC, and PS5, and an award-winning open-world roleplaying experience that wowed gaming audiences with its rendition of medieval 15th Century Bohemia.

Now, I'm excited to share that the studio has publicly confirmed that the whispers were true: Warhorse is officially making "an open world Middle-earth RPG" set in the universe of the legendary fantasy series The Lord of the Rings penned by J. R. R. Tolkien. The news was announced early on Wednesday morning on social media as well as on Warhorse's website.

"Warhorse Studios is entering a new chapter. We are working on a new RPG set in Middle-earth. We have always been creating worlds full of stories that pull you in — and that’s exactly the kind of Middle-earth we will one day show you," wrote the developers. "For now, a long journey lies ahead, and we can’t wait to share more with you when the time is right."

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That's not all, though. Warhorse also has "a new Kingdom Come adventure" in development right now as well — and surprisingly, according to comments made by Embracer Group CEO Phil Rogers (the holding company that owns the studio and KCD publisher Deep Silver) during its latest business report, the firm plans to release it by "next fiscal year," suggesting a 2027 launch.

That's far sooner than I was expecting for a new KCD game, given that KCD2 came out just last year. With that in mind, I don't expect this to be Kingdom Come: Deliverance 3 or anything like that, but perhaps we are getting a smaller-scale spinoff game with different characters.

Regardless, as a massive fan of the KCD games, I'm excited that we're getting a new one in the near future — and I'm equally hyped for a The Lord of the Rings RPG made by Warhorse, too. The studio's titles are rich with authentic handcrafted detail, remarkable open-world reactivity, and crunchy systems-driven gameplay mechanics, and to see those qualities applied to what is arguably the greatest fantasy universe of all time would be a dream come true.

As for when we can expect this new LotR game to come out, neither Warhorse nor Embracer had any release date information to share. Therefore, I'm guessing it'll be at least a couple years before we know anything for sure, and I'm okay with that. I don't want the developers to rush this one; let them cook in peace.

It's worth noting that these reveals coincided with the announcement that Embracer Group is splitting into two separate companies, Fellowship Entertainment and Embracer. Fellowship "aims to become an IP-led entertainment company built for growth and enduring momentum" and encompasses core IPs and games like KCD, 4A Games' Metro 2039, and Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider, while Embracer will oversee more niche properties.

The Lord of the Rings has an interesting history in gaming. The older titles that came out when the movies did were well-received, as was 2014's Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and 2017's Middle-earth: Shadow of War — though they were very inaccurate to the lore of the series. 2024's The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria reviewed well, but 2025's life sim Tales of the Shire was criticized by some, with players citing boredom and bare-bones gameplay. And, uh, we don't talk about The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.

Ultimately, though, I'd argue that if there's an RPG developer that'll make a faithful and well-crafted The Lord of the Rings experience, it's Warhorse Studios. I can't wait to see more of this game, and what's next for KCD as well.

Does the news that Warhorse Studios is making a The Lord of the Rings RPG get you excited? Let me know in the comments, and in our poll.

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