‘Gollum’ Game Publisher Lays Off Developers and Cancels Next ‘Lord of the Rings’ Project
‘Gollum’ Game Publisher Lays Off Developers and Cancels Next ‘Lord of the Rings’ Project
Daedalic Entertainment is no longer in the development business after last month's critical misfire
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Ooof... sad for all those devs, but wow was that game was a mistake from the start
I think they had mostly worked on point-and-click games before Gollum. Clearly they weren't ready to scale up to a project as large as a LoTR title. Sad to see though nevertheless.
Just the idea/concept felt off... someone should have asked why we need a whole game about a side-character that no one asked for
Eh, I get it. As popular as the brand is, I can understand studios being hesitant to take the main cast on a new adventure, since it's not very believable with what they already do.
There can be an appeal to a "just a nobody" story in the same universe, but then the only thing you can rely on is the setting and brand recognition.
A side character turned main character let's you "expand the universe" with a known character, and nest something with the existing story, without feeling like beating a dead horse in a fan-fic-esque revisit of the main cast.
I was curious with Gollum, how they'd make an interesting game with an engaging story about a generally unlikeable side character.
Turns out they didn't. But it probably would've been very impressive if they had!
Hogwarts Legacy definitely succeeded in doing that, it's a shame it's so rarely tried.
They could have used the Silmarillion instead. That thing is chock full of information a lot of people don't know that could have been used.
A better idea imo would be you play a lowly Orc in the same locale and you could climb ranks like the nemesis system. Gollum could still be there if they wanted to tell his story.
I don't understand this argument. I can think of a dozen ways of making an interesting Gollum game. It's a fascinating and daresay iconic character. I was a little bit hyped for the game actually, too bad it's... Well, this.
Should have maybe sticked to their expertise and made a lotr point and click game, instead of trying to make a big RPG. 🤷🏽♀️
I think I heard that they didn't actually want to make a game as technically complex as it was, but the company that licences the rights to make games set in the Legendarium sort of forced them into it.
What I find rather funny is that LOTR is a setting that would be pretty perfect for a traditional PnC adventure game. They could have played to their strengths and possibly made a better game, even with their odd choice of protagonist.
Honestly the developers were not skilled for this knowing their past pedigree. They should have ramped up with something a little more small scale before this. At the end of the day they have to bring home a paycheck to feed themselves and their family and hope they find a new job as swift as possible.