‘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
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.
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.
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.