As a nearly lifelong Lord of the Rings devotee and, within the last 8 years, a massive Kingdom Come: Deliverance fan, imagine my excitement when I heard the rumors that KCD2 developer Warhorse Studios is currently working on an open-world Lord of the Rings RPG. I’ve never been ashamed of the fact that I gave Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 a perfect score when I reviewed it last year, and a big part of that came down to what Warhorse values: immersion, consequence, and a world that feels like it’s moving whether I’m there or not. And if there’s any fantasy universe that arguably demands that kind of attention to detail, it’s Middle-earth. That’s why this potential pairing feels like something that probably should have happened years ago, and that’s why, if it’s real, it could be the stuff of legends.
Warhorse has already proven it can build an open world where the player isn’t the center of everything, where being an ordinary person actually enhances the experience rather than limits it. Apply that philosophy to Middle-earth, and suddenly the idea of an open-world Lord of the Rings RPG starts to look very different from anything the franchise has attempted before. Instead of relying on epic cinematic moments or fan service, it could actually do Tolkien’s world justice. And if the recent rumors about a large-scale, big-budget LotR RPG are even partially true, then Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 developer Warhorse Studios might be one of the few studios equipped to actually pull that off.
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Why Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s Design DNA Fits Lord of the Rings So Well
The Kingdom Come: Deliverance series has never been about an extraordinary protagonist whose destiny is to save the universe, but about an authentic, lived-in world filled with ordinary people who are all just trying to find their place in it. Coincidentally, one of the themes that drives Tolkien’s story is that the people least suited for greatness are often the ones who end up carrying the heaviest burdens, which is exactly why Middle-earth works as more than just a fantasy setting. It’s also precisely why The Lord of the Rings is often celebrated for its world even more than its story, because the journey through Middle-earth is ultimately what defines the narrative.
Who’s That Character?
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.
Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Feels Like a World Rather Than a Game
In other words, for an open-world Lord of the Rings game to be as effective as possible, it would need to put the utmost care into its design of Middle-earth. That’s where Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 developer Warhorse Studios comes in, as it has now proven its ability to craft worlds that feel believable—like they could exist apart from the games themselves.
If the recent rumors about a large-scale, big-budget LotR RPG are even partially true, then Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 developer Warhorse Studios might be one of the few studios equipped to actually pull that off.
In KCD2, for example, NPCs don’t just stand around waiting for players to interact with them. They wake up, go to work, eat, socialize, and sleep according to their own schedules, ultimately reacting to what the player does and even adjusting their behavior based on reputation and circumstance. In the end, that kind of design creates the feeling that, rather than being the center of the universe, the player is actually just another person existing within it, learning how it works and choosing how to best navigate it all. It’s the reason something as simple as walking through a town or overhearing a conversation can be just as worthwhile as completing a major quest, because every moment in the game reinforces the idea that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was designed to be a world first and a game second.
And it’s not just the NPCs that make KCD2‘s world feel alive either, as it’s also the way the game handles exploration that really sells the illusion. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 rarely feels like it’s pushing players from one objective to the next, because so much of what makes its world memorable isn’t tied to a quest at all. Wandering off the road, taking a wrong turn, or following something that simply catches the eye is likely to lead players into the middle of a story the game never explicitly pointed them toward. Some of these moments do evolve into full side quests, but many of them are just fleeting encounters or environmental details building on the idea that this world isn’t a checklist of activities but a place that has stories someone might never learn without leaving their protective bubble.
Warhorse Would Likely Treat Middle-earth as a Place More Than a Backdrop
Translate that to Middle-earth, and the potential for what Warhorse could do with an open-world Lord of the Rings RPG is pretty clear. Instead of fast-traveling between major locations or making a beeline toward objective markers on a map, players could be encouraged to actually live in Tolkien’s world and move through it, gradually unearthing its history in the same way the Fellowship does. A journey from the Shire to Rivendell, for example, would come with its own discoveries, stories, and people to encounter along the way, making Middle-earth feel like a world players are simply living in rather than a world specifically built for them.
Of course, as intriguing as this idea is—of Warhorse potentially developing an open-world Lord of the Rings game—the Kingdom Come: Deliverance series is known for being grounded in history, authenticity, and realism. However, Middle-earth is the opposite of that in a lot of ways. It’s mythic, symbolic, and often larger than life in a way that doesn’t always align with the kind of design Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, for instance, is known for. At the same time, there’s a case to be made that this is exactly why it makes sense for Warhorse to be the one to have its hands in a project like this.
Every moment in the game reinforces the idea that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 was designed to be a world first and a game second.
Tolkien’s world may be filled with magic and legend, but the most important element is the people in that world, the choices they make, and the responsibility carried by those who were never meant to bear it in the first place. If Warhorse can translate that human element into its usual design philosophy, then it may not need to match the spectacle of other fantasy RPGs in order to succeed.
If the rumor that Warhorse is developing an open-world Lord of the Rings RPG is true, that’s what it will likely come down to in the end—not whether it can build something bigger or more technically impressive, but whether it understands why Middle-earth is such a memorable world. The foundation is already there in everything Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 does well, like its preference for immersion, discovery, and a world that simply exists in spite of what the player does. If those same ideas are carried over into Tolkien’s world, then this wouldn’t just be another licensed RPG trying to capitalize on the beloved IP’s legacy. Rather, it could be the kind of Lord of the Rings game that finally does Middle-earth justice in an industry with more failed attempts than one can count.
- Released
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February 4, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
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Warhorse Studios
