Warhorse Studios refuses to confirm Lord of the Rings project rumors but committed to its next game being "an RPG true to our colours." The Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 developer kept details locked down when pressed about the speculation.
This stance matters. Warhorse built its reputation on immersive, grounded RPGs with systemic depth. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 delivers exactly that. The studio clearly won't chase trends or compromise its design philosophy for licensing money.
If Warhorse does work on Middle-earth IP, the promise here is reassuring. Their "colours" means first-person immersion, complex NPC systems, and zero fantasy handholding. No quest markers. No dumbed-down mechanics for casual audiences. That approach could make a Lord of the Rings game feel genuinely different from every other Tolkien adaptation.
The silence on confirmation suggests either early development stages or ongoing negotiations with Embracer Group, which owns the Tolkien licenses. Either way, Warhorse protecting its creative identity matters more than the rumor itself. Too many studios compromise their DNA chasing licensed IP. Warhorse just said it won't.