Kingdom Come: Deliverance Dev Confirms New Franchise Entry and Lord of the Rings RPG

Warhorse Studios just revealed its next two projects to be a new entry in the Kingdom Come: Deliverance franchise and an open-world Lord of the Rings RPG. The studio came to prominence in 2018 with the first Kingdom Come: Deliverance game and put out the sequel, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, in 2025. Co-founder Daniel Vávra worked as a designer and writer on the first two Mafia games before opening Warhorse Studios in 2011 with Martin Klíma.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance was praised for its grounded take on the open-world RPG genre and historical setting, but criticised for technical issues. The dedication to realistic mechanics divided critics and players, with some praising the immersion while others felt it got in the way of the storytelling. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 garnered an even more positive reception when it came out in 2025. Many saw it as a dramatic improvement over its predecessor. Both games received story expansions, making the already large adventures even bigger.

New Kingdom Come and Lord of the Rings Games from Warhorse Studios

In a Twitter post from Warhorse Studios’ official account on May 20, the developer announced both a new Kingdom Come: Deliverance game and an open-world Lord of the Rings RPG. Rumors had already been circulating about the Kingdom Come: Deliverance developer making a Lord of the Rings game, and this announcement finally confirms it. The tweet is accompanied by a simple photo and a brief statement: “We’re excited to tell you more when the time is right.”

The words “Lord of the Rings” do not actually appear anywhere in the announcement. Instead, the game is referred to as “an open-world Middle-earth RPG.” Middle-earth is the setting for the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, and the wording implies that the game will not follow the story and characters of the books or movies and instead will tell an original story within the Lord of the Rings universe. The other game is also referred to as a Kingdom Come adventure, so it is not confirmed whether this is Kingdom Come: Deliverance 3 or a spin-off.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a grounded RPG adventure in a historical setting and notably devoid of any magic or mythical creatures. Middle-earth is full of both magic and monsters, so it will be interesting to see how the developer’s experience translates to a true fantasy setting. It is also unknown if the Middle-earth game will include the same complex systems as the Kingdom Come franchise. If it does, Lord of the Rings fans who are more casual gamers might be overwhelmed by such depth.

This will not be the first open-world game set in the universe J.R.R. Tolkien created. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War were action-adventure open-world games that utilized their trademark Nemesis System. There is even an MMORPG, Lord of the Rings: Online. However, an open-world RPG utilizing the setting will be the first of its kind and most likely a dream come true for many fans of the franchise and something they have probably been anticipating for a long time.

Released

February 4, 2025

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity

Developer(s)

Warhorse Studios