A few hours ago, developer Wētā Workshop and publisher Private Division announced that Tales of the Shire will be delayed from its original 2024 release window to early 2025. The news came from a brief message posted on social media:
All of us here at Weta Workshop are excited to have you join us in the Shire, a peaceful corner of J.R.R. Tolkien's world. When a new Hobbit steps into Bywater for the very first time, we want that moment to be everything you're hoping for. To ensure we deliver that vision, Tales of the Shire will now be launching early 2025.
Thank you for your patience and continued support. Be sure to tune in to our A Hobbit Day Showcase on September 22nd to learn more about Tales of the Shire and our new release date.
Tales of the Shire was unveiled around a year ago as a cozy single-player game set in Tolkien's beloved Hobbit land from The Lord of the Rings. Players can customize their Hobbit's appearance and attire and decorate their Hobbit home with grid-free placement to position furniture and home décor to their liking.
Any fan of The Lord of the Rings is well aware of the Hobbits' love for food. In Tales of the Shire, players will have to forage, fish, and tend to their gardens to stock up, harvesting seasonal crops and flowers as time passes in their homestead. Wētā Workshop also promised a fair amount of exploration, with players able to explore Bywater and discover lost treasures in the secret glades of the Shire.
The dynamic weather will influence daily routines, and there will even be seasonal surprises based on the time of year. Throughout the game's storyline, players will encounter iconic characters with which to trade, and completing club missions will further the goal of gaining official village status in Bywater.
Tales of the Shire will be released for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and Nintendo Switch. More information, including the actual release date, will be shared next week as part of the Hobbit Day Showcase.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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