Private Division, the Take-Two publishing label has announced that it is working alongside Weta Workshop, the production company behind the special effects in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, on a new game “set in the Middle-earth universe of J.R.R Tolkien.”
The game will be based on the “literary works of the series”, and is currently in early development. Although there’s no specific release date attached to it yet, the game is expected to launch during Take-Two’s fiscal year 2024.
Michael Worosz, Head of Private Division stated, “We are thrilled to partner with Weta Workshop to publish a game set in such an extraordinary and celebrated universe. No entity is better equipped than the team at Weta Workshop to create a distinctive, new Middle-earth gaming experience.”
Nobody does it Weta
Weta Workshop has been regularly involved with various projects involving Tolkien over the last 20 years. Most notably, the production company created the visual effects of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy along with movies such as Elysium, Avatar, Planet of the Apes, Dune, Thor and more.
Weta themselves were recently the subject of an acquisition by games development tools company Unity.
And while there’s very little information on the sort of game Weta is developing, Amie Wolken, their head of Interactive has shed some light on the project: “It’s a privilege to create a new game set in Middle-earth, especially one that’s so different from what fans have played previously. We’re excited for gamers to explore Middle-earth in a way they never had before.”
The developers will share further announcements on the Middle-earth game in the coming months.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
