Weta Workshop, the physical effects studio best known for its work on Peter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringstrilogy, is developing its first-ever game for home consoles calledTales of the Shire. This project, which is being published by former Take Two subsidiary Private Division, is unsurprisingly set inThe Lord of the Ringsfranchise. It, however, is different from most other games based on the long-running series.Tales of the Shireis a cozy life simulation game that lets players live out their hobbit fantasies in the Shire. It features no combat and no high-stakes story; instead, it has more in common withAnimal CrossingorFantasy Lifethan a regular action-adventure game.
Tales of the Shirehas so far been confirmed for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC. The game was originally slated for release in 2024, but since then, it has been delayed two times. Weta Workshop and Private Division firstannounced thatTales of the Shirewould be releasedon June 23, 2025, but they recently pushed its launch back an additional four months, to July 04, 2025. Weta Workshop already has a lot to prove withTales of the Shire, given that it’s the company’s first-ever console title, but the fact that a sequel to one of the bestLord of the Ringsgames likely won’t happen puts even more pressure on it than ever before.
Since a Middle-Earth Sequel is Unlikely, The Need for a Good Lord of the Rings Game is Higher than Ever
Monolith Productions, The Middle-Earth Devs, Were Recently Shuttered by Warner Bros.
On Tuesday,Warner Bros. Interactive made the shocking announcementthat Monolith Productions, the company behind the belovedMiddle-earthgames, would be shuttered alongside two other studios, WB Games San Diego and Player First Games. This news came as a massive surprise, in large part because of Monolith Production’s storied history as a game developer. Monolith had been around for over 30 years, and it left its mark on the video game industry with many critically-acclaimed titles, such asThe Operative: No One Lives Forever,Condemed: Criminal Origins,F.E.A.R., and, of course,Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.
Prior to its closure, Monolith Productions was working on aWonder Womangame, but it was recently canceled.
Monolith Productions was one of the only AAA developers that worked onThe Lord of the Ringsfranchise in the last decade. Lately, most of the games based off of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary franchise have either been smaller in terms of budget or developed with mobile phones in mind.Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordorand its 2017 sequel,Middle-earth: Shadow of War, however, were both blockbuster AAA action games.Shadow of Warwas sadly the last game Monolith Productions ever made, and from the looks of it, it’ll remain the last single-player AAALord of the Ringsgame for quite some time.
There Aren’t Many Lord of the Rings Games to Look Forward to, So Tales of the Shire Needs to Hit a Home Run
The Lord of the Ringsfranchise has had a tough time in the realm of gaming as of late. The last two console games based on the franchise,The Lord of the Rings: GollumandThe Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria,were met with mixed reception at best or were critically-panned at worst. As for upcomingLord of the Ringsgames, on the other hand, there isn’t really anything of note to look forward to other than the aforementionedTales of the Shireandthe untitledLord of the RingsMMOdeveloped by Amazon Games.
Given the dire state ofLord of the Ringsvideo gamesat the moment, Weta Workshop really needs to hit a home run withTales of the Shire. Since Warner Bros. will probably not make a third installment in Monolith Productions’Middle-earthseries, and since there aren’t many major studios working on theLord of the RingsIP, it’s possible thatTales of the Shiremay be one of the only single-playerLord of the Ringsgames that gets released in the foreseeable future. Hopefully, the recent delay forTales of the Shirewill give Weta Workshop enough time to fix any of its issues, so that the game receives a smooth launch and doesn’t end up likeGollum.
