Lord Of The Rings Hogwarts Legacy Style RPG in Development

Well, this is quite the pitch.

It's being reported that a new Lord of the Rings RPG is in development, and it's one that'll rival Hogwarts Legacy - or at the very least be this franchise's answer to the acclaimed Harry Potter spin-off.

This tidbit of news comes from Insider Gaming's Mike Straw.

Straw claims that the game has been in development for quite some time, with sources informing Insider Gaming that the project is being partially funded by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO).

It's said that the ADIO has contributed close to $100 million, so we're talking a big ol' hefty AAA RPG here.

Or perhaps I should say is planning to contribute.

The deal is reportedly in the final stages, with Straw writing that it's hoped that it will be official "soon" - potentially as soon as next week.

Outside of this, the game has been funded internally although weirdly, this report doesn't cite which studio is actually primarily cooking up the project.

Several studios and publishers are mentioned, including the likes of Embracer Group, Revenge, "and other studios".

That's not a total surprise given that Embracer purchased the video games publishing rights for Lord of the Rings in 2022, paying close to $400 million.

It hasn't exactly proven to be a successful purchase just yet.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was abysmal and The Lord of the Rings: Tales of the Shire wasn't that much better.

I reviewed the latter myself and while I enjoyed the idea of Tales of the Shire, it was all rather hollow in practise - and looked positively atrocious on Nintendo Switch.

The source reportedly also told Insider Gaming that we should expect a third-person game that, as I mentioned earlier, is designed to "compete with Hogwarts Legacy".

There's no explanation as to what that means but I can offer my own interpretation.

Hogwarts Legacy didn't seek to retell the story of Harry Potter.

Instead, it managed to cook up a narrative that allowed players to step inside that beloved game world, offering something that felt both familiar and wholly new.

It's with that in mind that if this game is real, I'd suspect it'll be our chance to step inside some well-known Middle-Earth locations albeit as part of a new tale.

As I said, that's just my own take; I can hardly see it competing with Hogwarts Legacy in the sense of luring in fans of the Wizarding World franchise, but I can see the appeal in cooking up an equivalent experience for the Lord of the Rings fandom.

Insider Gaming did contact both Embracer Group and Revenge for comment.

Embracer replied, saying that as “a general rule, we do not comment on rumours or speculation”.

Revenge did much the same, declining to comment on “rumour and speculation”.

It's perhaps an apt time for me to then remind you that this should all be taken with a hefty pinch of salt for now.

Insider Gaming certainly has broken several accurate exclusives before, but that's not necessarily a guarantee that every leak is on the money.

Even if this leak is bang on, the project might not see the light of day; game development can be very volatile.

Still, this is a cool premise.