Skip to main content

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is finally launching quite soon

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum finally has a release date. Daedalic Entertainment and Nacon confirmed during a hands-off preview event attended by Digital Trends that this unique Lord of the Rings game finally launches on September 1. 

Daedalic Entertainment first announced The Lord of the Rings: Gollum in 2019, but the game was pushed back to 2022 when Nacon came on board as publisher. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait much longer for this adventure as it’s only a few months away. Since its announcement, the rights for Lord of the Rings games have gone up for sale, and EA has announced a mobile game based on the franchise. Thankfully, none of those developments seemed to have negatively impacted The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.

Gollum hides from soldiers in The Lord of the Rings: Gollum
Gollum will die in a direct confrontation, so he must stealthily dodge and take down enemies. Image used with permission by copyright holder

Digital Trends got an early look at The Lord of the Rings: Gollum via a hands-off demo. While this may seem like an odd comparison, imagine Uncharted’s platforming in a stealth-focused game set in the Lord of the Rings universe. I saw Gollum hopping around ledges in both Mordor and Mirkwood as the developer carefully managed Gollum’s stamina so he wouldn’t fall off any ledges he was climbing. 

Recommended Videos

Combat is minimal as Gollum has limited stamina he can use in attacks. As such, platforming and puzzle-solving will be the best ways to get through many situations. Throughout the game, players will also have to choose between the Gollum and Sméagol personalities during key story moments, and these decisions will impact the narrative. 

Characters like Thranduil and Gandalf also made appearances in the demo. They sported looks more similar to their description in the books than how they were portrayed in the movies. While Gollum obviously isn’t the prettiest protagonist, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum has a distinct look and feel compared to any The Lord of the Rings game that has come before it. 

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on September 1. A Nintendo Switch version is also in the works, but does not have a release window outside of 2022. 

Tomas Franzese
A former Gaming Staff Writer at Digital Trends, Tomas Franzese now reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
Is Lords of the Fallen cross-platform?
A knight with a large sword prepares to stab a dragon in Lords of the Fallen.

If there's one thing you can count on in nearly any Soulslike game, it's that you're going to face some hefty challenges along your journey. That rings as true as ever in Lords of the Fallen, which tasks you with exploring treacherous locales and facing off against horrifying and deadly creatures around every corner. As such, you may find yourself wanting to bring a friend along for some cooperative play as you would in Elden Ring, and you can do exactly that by simply inviting them to your world, where they can stay for as long as they'd like. But not all Soulslikes are cross-platform games, so we'll fill you in on whether this one is.
Is Lords of the Fallen cross-platform?

The quick and easy answer to whether Lords of the Fallen has crossplay is yes, it features crossplay just like Minecraft and Sea of Thieves. However, this only works between PC and each console individually, meaning that PlayStation 5 and Xbox players can't connect with one another. For those on either platform looking to connect with PC players, though, you can freely invite someone for co-op (or invade them for PVP) with no issues whatsoever.

Read more
Is Minecraft cross-platform?
Characters walking in minecraft.

Minecraft is an endless sandbox of fun to explore one's creativity. As great as it is to play alone, it is also one of the best co-op games. Building bases, fighting monsters, and crafting strong weapons are all better with one or more friends to share the adventure with. Because Minecraft is available on almost anything with a screen, you would assume you could play with anyone, but the answer isn't quite that simple.

Playing with friends on a shared server is one of the greatest ways to experience Minecraft, just like it is for Terraria or GTA V. But in today's gaming landscape, there is a wide variety of platforms on which people play the game, which may lead you to wonder if this is a cross-platform game. Below, we'll tell you what you need to know about cross-platform play in Minecraft.
Is Minecraft cross-platform?

Read more
Is Baldur’s Gate 3 coming to Switch?
Minthara in Baldur's Gate 3.

Few games have rocked the industry in the way that Baldur's Gate 3 did at launch, and it has been a critical and commercial success on all platforms for which it has been released. As such, it's reasonable to wonder if Larian Studios has considered bringing the hit role-playing title to the Nintendo Switch. Let's take a look and see if any plans to that effect are in motion.
Is Baldur's Gate coming to Nintendo Switch?
Baldur's Gate 3 is not available on Nintendo Switch, and there is no indication that Larian Studios has any intentions of bringing it over at this time, if ever. It has already canceled the planned DLC for the game, citing a desire to move on to new projects beyond the Baldur's Gate franchise, likely leaving the series for another developer to pick up down the line.

Speaking to IGN, the game's director, Swen Vincke, said: "We’re going to shift around and we’re going to start doing these other things that we talked about, that we planned on doing before we started on BG3. Those were always the plans for afterward, we have two games that we want to make, and we have lots of concepts. So let’s just have closure on BG3. It’s been great. We’ve done our job. It’s a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. So let’s pass the torch to another studio to pick up this incredible legacy."

Read more