75%
Probable
[UPDATE #2 - May 20, 2026] Warhorse has now confirmed that it is working on an open world Middle-earth RPG as well as a "new Kingdom Come adventure".
[UPDATE #1] Insider Gaming reports that the unannounced The Lord of the Rings game, which they had revealed months ago, is being developed by Crystal Dynamics, not Warhorse Studios, although it is still possible that Warhorse is working on another, separate game based on the LOTR IP.
[ORIGINAL STORY] Warhorse Studios, the Czech team behind the Kingdom Come: Deliverance series, might be working on the previously rumored The Lord of the Rings open world game. The news comes from Ryszard ‘RYSŁAW’ Chojnowski, a Polish translator, creator, journalist, and lecturer on gaming who was featured on the Tolkien Polska Podcast last week.
Chojnowski claims to have heard the rumor a couple of months ago. He did not believe it at first, but there have been more whispers about it recently. This should be the third-person The Lord of the Rings action game that was first unveiled by Insider Gaming back in September 2025. According to that report, the project was partially funded by the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) with around $100 million. Its goal is apparently to compete directly with the likes of Hogwarts Legacy, which was the best-selling game in 2023, and multiple studios are said to be involved in its development.
In truth, Internet sleuths had already discovered earlier this year that Warhorse might be working on a separate project beyond the inevitable Kingdom Come: Deliverance 3. There are job postings seeking experience with Unreal Engine, and the studio's historical RPG series is notoriously powered by CryEngine. It is unlikely that that will change for the new installment, as it would mean abandoning an established workflow. However, it makes perfect sense to use Unreal Engine for a brand new project, especially if the studio needed to quickly recruit more developers for a separate, dedicated team.
Warhorse has definitely proven its chops on open world games with the first and second Kingdom Come: Deliverance. The latter in particular earned rave reviews (including a perfect score from our own Chris Wray) and sold five million units in its first year. With the exception of CD Projekt RED, which is already busy with The Witcher IV, it's hard to imagine a more suitable developer.
Weirdly enough, there has never been an open world single player action RPG set in Tolkien's world. Monolith's Shadow of Mordor/War titles were action/adventure games, and prior games were not open world, unless you count Turbine's The Lord of the Rings Online, which is, of course, an MMORPG. Another MMORPG was in development at Amazon Game Studios but was quietly canceled after Amazon decided to wind down most of its gaming investments.
This project, if it is indeed real, is likely to be still years away from completion. Even so, we'll keep our ear to the ground for any further rumors and leaks.
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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