For RPG lovers and fans of the medieval period, fantasy, or both, last week brought an incredibly exciting announcement: the news that Warhorse Studios, the developer behind the acclaimed open-world Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 RPGs, is working on a new title set in Middle-earth at the same time it’s also building a new KCD game.
At the time, very little was said about either upcoming title, though Embracer Group — the holding company that owns KCD publisher Deep Silver and Warhorse Studios — revealed that the new Kingdom Come game is slated for launch in the “next fiscal year” in its latest earnings report, suggesting a release date in 2027.
In a follow-up community livestream from Warhorse, however, communications director Tobias Stolz-Zwilling shared some additional details about both projects. He began by confirming that both RPGs will be open world before then announcing that the third Kingdom Come title will be led by KCD2 creative director Prokop Jirsa, with KCD2 design director Viktor Bocan in charge of the Middle-earth game.
He reaffirmed the planned release window for the new Kingdom Come adventure as well: “If everything goes right, it comes next fiscal year. Which means you don’t have to wait seven years for another Kingdom Come.”
Stolz-Zwilling also touched on the fact that Warhorse has grown large enough that it can now work on two major projects at the same time comfortably, and stressed that “we’re still one huge team” despite being split across both games. “There are still, of course, things that are being cooperated on,” he explained.
He went on to talk about the The Lord of the Rings RPG in particular, then, noting that “We have a completely mind-blowing ready team to delve into what this universe has to offer. And this is, again, an absolute passion project.”
“I use that word a lot, but you know what I mean by that,” he added. “Don’t think it’s just, ‘Hey, you do it,’ and we got a job and now we’re doing it — it’s not like that. It’s not how we want to do games, we’re not a hired sword. We’re doing the games we want to do, and the way we want to do it.”
Elaborating on that further, Stolz-Zwilling explained that the developers have vowed to “build the games in a very specific Warhorse way” — that is, by focusing heavily on the open-world reactivity and crunchy systems-driven mechanics that have made the KCD games stand out as some of the best RPGs from the past decade.
“With KCD1 and KCD2, we have a very unique way of how we craft RPGs, how we understand RPGs. I said in one interview with someone at Gamescom that we want to become the new kings of RPGs. I still stand by that,” he continued. “I know it’s a bit ‘haha’ and nosy, but I really stand by that. I think we have our very own formula you guys love, and that’s one of the reasons why the news yesterday cast these huge waves — because people trust that we know what we’re doing.”
In closing, Stolz-Zwilling, threw out some descriptions I was very happy to hear, noting that the Middle-earth game will be “deeply immersive” with a “living world,” along with “interesting characters, memorable places, and, of course, a strong narrative focus.” Say no more, Warhorse — I’m in.
Are you excited to play the new Kingdom Come game next year, and also the Middle-earth RPG from Warhorse when it comes out? Let me know down below.
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