Warhorse Studios, the Czech developer behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance, confirmed this morning that it is building an open-world Middle-earth RPG. The announcement came via the studio's official X account, ending speculation that has been circulating since late 2025.
The post was brief but unambiguous: "You might have heard the rumours. It's time to reveal what we are working on." Warhorse then confirmed two projects simultaneously: the Middle-earth RPG and "a new Kingdom Come adventure." No release windows, no platforms, no trailers. Just the confirmation.
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What Warhorse actually said
The studio's X post confirmed an "open-world Middle-earth RPG" is in active development. That framing matters. Open-world Middle-earth is a wide brief, and Warhorse was careful not to specify which age of Tolkien's world the game will cover, which characters will appear, or how closely it will follow the source material.
Warhorse added it is "excited to tell you more when the time is right," which is the standard holding pattern for a project that clearly isn't ready for a full reveal. The announcement reads more like a controlled leak than a marketing launch.
The Embracer connection and why this is happening now
Warhorse is owned by Embracer Group, which recently reorganised several of its studios under a new subsidiary called Fellowship Entertainment, specifically to manage Middle-earth projects. That structural shift has been underway for months, and Warhorse's announcement fits directly into that broader push.
The timing also lines up with reports that Amazon is exploring a Lord of the Rings "game experience" of its own. Whether that news accelerated Warhorse's decision to go public is speculation, but the proximity is hard to ignore. The Lord of the Rings gaming space is getting competitive fast, and Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings Game already represents one end of the Tolkien spectrum, with its cosy hobbit-life focus.
Here's the thing: Embracer has been sitting on the Middle-earth licence for years without producing a flagship RPG games experience to match its potential. Warhorse, fresh off the commercial success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, is the most credible studio in the portfolio to actually deliver that.
What Kingdom Come's DNA could mean for Middle-earth
Look at what Warhorse built with Kingdom Come: Deliverance and its sequel. Large simulated open worlds, historically grounded systems, reactive NPCs, and a story-driven approach that rewarded players who paid attention. That design philosophy applied to Tolkien's world has obvious appeal.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, the survival crafting game set in the Fourth Age, showed there is appetite for Middle-earth games that go beyond the films. But Return to Moria was a different kind of project. A Warhorse-style RPG, built around the kind of dense world simulation the studio is known for, would be something else entirely.
Leadership is still an open question. Daniel Vávra, who co-founded Warhorse and directed both Kingdom Come games, stepped away from game development to focus on a Kingdom Come film. He still co-owns the studio, so his involvement in some capacity seems likely, but who is actually directing the Middle-earth project has not been confirmed.
For players who want to get a feel for the Tolkien gaming space while waiting for more details, the Tales of the Shire beginner strategies and tips guide covers the other major Middle-earth release currently on shelves. Two very different games, two very different visions of the same world. Warhorse's version, when it eventually shows itself properly, will land somewhere else on that spectrum entirely.
