‘The Lord Of The Rings: Gollum’ Developer Shuts Down After Catastrophic Reception
A new report states that German developer Daedalic Entertainment is shutting down its development studio following the catastrophic reception of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
The game, which released on May 25th received a Metascore of 34 on PlayStation 5 and a 39 on PC.
The user scores were even worse with PC users giving the game a 2.0 while PlayStation 5 users gave it a 1.1.
Following the release, Daedalic Entertainment issued a statement apologizing for the “underwhelming experience.”
They stated, “We would like to sincerely apologize for the underwhelming experience many of you had with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum upon its release. We acknowledge and deeply regret that the game did not meet expectations we set for ourselves or for our dedicated community. Please accept our sincere apologies for any disappointment this may have caused.”
“Our goal as a studio, as passionate The Lord of the Rings fans, has always been to tell a compelling and immersive story-driven adventure. Crafting a story with Middle-earth as our playground has been the greatest honor – and the biggest challenge we faced so far,” they continued.
“At Daedalic, we understand that a game’s success relies on the enjoyment and satisfaction of its players. We genuinely value your feedback and have been actively listening to your voices, reading your comments, and analyzing the constructive criticism and suggests you have provided,” Daedelic stated.
“Our development team has been working diligently to address the bugs and technical issues many of you experienced,” the company assured. “We are committed to providing you with patches that will allow you to enjoy the game to its fullest potential.”
They then reiterated their apology, “Once again, we deeply apologize for any inconvenience cause, and we appreciate your understanding during this time. We will continue to keep you updated on our progress and provide transparent communication regarding the upcoming patches and improvements.”
“Your passion and dedication as players have been the driving force behind our determination to make things right,” Daedalic concluded.
Now, a new report from German outlet Games Wirtschaft notes “The Hamburg game publisher Daedalic Entertainment is giving up internal game development.”
The reports adds, “Daedalic Entertainment, based in Hamburg, will in future focus on publishing i.e licensing, marketing and sales.”
They reiterated, “At the same time, games will no longer be produced in the company’s own development department at the Hamburg site.”
Specifically the report noted that 25 of 90 employees were let go as they scrapped the studio. A statement from the company said, “We value each and every member of our team and it is important to us that the transition goes as smoothly as possible. Therefore, we will support our former employees in finding new opportunities within our network.”
The scrapping of internal development also reportedly ended another The Lord of the Rings action-adventure project that the studio had been developing since mid-2022 and was expected to release in late 2024.
As noted above, Daedalic will continue to publish new titles with the report noting the company has “eight promising releases” coming in the current financial year. The company has seven listed on its Steam page.
They include Surviving Deponia, Wild Woods, Capes, New Cycle, Wanderful, Reveil, and Magin: The Rat Project Stories.
What do you make of Daedelic Entertainment shutting down its internal development studio following the catastrophic release of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum?
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