Daedalic Entertainment’s recent The Lord of the Rings game has been universally panned, but it seems the studio isn’t done with the property yet.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has been one of the biggest high profile flops of the year so far. Releasing last week after a number of delays, the action-adventure title was widely panned upon launch, and is currently sitting at a Metacritic score of 36 (you can read our review through here). So fierce has been the negative reception for the game that developer Daedalic Entertainment recently issued an apology for the state it released in- though it seems the studio isn’t quite done yet with the Lord of the Rings property.

As spotted by Games Wirtschaft, it seems Daedalic Entertainment received a grant worth a little over €2 million in June last year from the Federal Ministry for Economics Affairs and Climate Action in Germany. The grant mentions it pertains to the development of “a new project that will transport the player into a lush world full of mythical creatures and magic” and “tells a story from a character’s perspective that has never been told before”.

While that description might make it seem like it’s just talking about the recently-released The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, Games Wirtschaft reports that the grant money has not been used for its development, and is instead related to the development of a different project based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. As per the grant, the project’s completion is currently planned for the second half of 2024, with development seemingly having started last year.

If this is indeed for a new Lord of the Rings game, will it be a direct follow-up to Gollum, or will it perhaps be focused on a different character?

Sure, I’ll play The Lord of the Rings: Treebeard.