Lord of the Rings Gollum
Developer Daedalic Entertainment has announced that it is ending its internal development efforts and shifting its focus to publishing. This decision comes in the wake of the troubled launch of their game, Lord of the Rings: Gollum. As a result of this change, 25 out of the company's 90 staff members have been laid off. While this transition is described as a 'difficult turning point,' Daedalic sees it as a potential 'new beginning'.
Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a prequel with a predetermined ending, received mixed reviews. Some felt that the game's predetermined ending made it feel less significant. Nonetheless, it is unfortunate that talented developers have lost their jobs as a consequence of this decision. Daedalic will now focus exclusively on its publishing business, which has achieved success with indie favorites such as Inkulinati and Unrailed.
'After the launch of Lord of the Rings: Gollum, we have come to the conclusion that we will no longer pursue internal development,' says Daedalic. 'This decision reflects our desire to focus on what we do best: creating and publishing high-quality games. It also serves as the basis for new opportunities and future success.'
The company acknowledges that the launch of Lord of the Rings: Gollum was met with criticism. However, Daedalic has a history of developing successful games, including Deponia and The Pillars of the Earth adaptation. Adapting the Lord of the Rings franchise into video games has always been a challenging task.
While Lord of the Rings: Gollum received a mixed review score of 64% from PC Gamer, the impact of this decision on the gaming community and fans of Daedalic's previous works remains to be seen.
For now, Lord of the Rings: Gollum will continue his adventures, including scurrying under refrigerators and biting the heads off raw fish. The game will also receive at least one more patch from Daedalic, but it remains to be seen if they can address the game's core issues.
This shift in focus away from internal development is driven by Daedalic's desire to prioritize its publishing business. 'This decision reflects our desire to focus on what we do best,' says the company. 'After the successes and challenges of internal development, we are convinced that we will achieve even more by focusing our resources on publishing and working with external development partners.'
While this change represents a 'difficult turning point,' Daedalic believes that it will lead to new opportunities and future success. The future of Daedalic Entertainment and its publishing endeavors remains to be seen.
