The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweris one of the most expensive TV shows of all time. Its first season cost over $600 million to make, which is far more than the budgets of some blockbuster films. Given how much money Amazon poured intoThe Rings of Power, it was expected that the series would break viewership records, and fortunately, it did just that. Although it was met with largely negative reception from fans,The Rings of Powerattracted very large audiences. The show’s first season, which launched in September 2022, was watched by 150 million users worldwide, according to recent statistics.
Since it’s being produced by Amazon,The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweris exclusive to Prime Video. This streaming service is, for the record, pretty much the only one that has exclusiveLotRcontent. Even Prime Video’s biggest competitor, Netflix, doesn’t have anyThe Lord of the Ringsshows of its own. Althoughthe originalThe Lord of the Ringstrilogyis available on Netflix in select countries, there is an overall lack of newLotRcontent on it. Netflix could at least make up for this absence by puttingTales of the Shire, an upcomingThe Lord of the Ringsvideo game, on its subscription service, but it seems like this won’t happen.
Tales of the Shire Could Have Been Netflix’s Counter to Rings of Power
Netflix Offers a Sizable Library of Mobile Games to All Subscribers at No Extra Cost
Some of Netflix’s games are exclusive to its service and/or were made by the company itself,such asSquid Game: UnleashedandThe Queen’s Gambit Chess. Others, however, are direct ports of console games, likeGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas,Sonic Mania,Katana Zero, andOxenfree 2. Given thatTales of the Shireis also a console game, it would fit just fine among this catalog of titles.
Tales of the Shire Would Be a Perfect Fit for Netflix, But It’s Not Coming to the Service
For those who are unaware,Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Gameis a cozy life sim that lets players step into the shoes of hobbits and maintain their own little villages in the Shire. UnliketheMiddle-Earthgames from Monolith Productions,Tales of the Shirehas a cartoony, colorful art style that’s somewhat similar toAnimal CrossingandStory of Seasons. The game is being developed by Weta Workship, the company best known for making the physical effects for Peter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringsmovies.
Tales of the Shireis going to launch on July 11, 2025, and it will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. It, however, will not be playable through any subscription services, on consoles, or otherwise. The fact thatTales of the Shireisn’t on Netflix, in particular, is rather disappointing, as it seems like the one game that would be perfect for the platform. Thanks to its unrealistic art style,Tales of the Shirewould probably run quite well on mobile phones. Plus, since it’s acozy, low-stakes game, it would be suitable for on-the-go gaming.
It would have been great if Netflix had signed a deal with Weta Workshop andpublisher Private Divisionto develop mobile phone ports ofTales of the Shireexclusively for the platform, but unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The game probably wouldn’t have generated nearly as much traffic asThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Powerdid on Prime Video, but it would’ve at least made up for Netflix’s lack ofLotRcontent.
