Private Division, a publishing arm of Take-Two Interactive, is teaming up with the New Zealand special effects company Wētā Workshop to produce a game set within J.R.R Tolkien’s Middle-Earth. Wētā famously worked on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
In a new tweet, Private Division announced the collaboration to immediate fanfare. “We’re thrilled to announce that we have partnered with Wētā Workshop to publish a new game set in the literary Middle-earth universe of J.R.R. Tolkien,” it reads.
Wētā Workshop worked on all three of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films, as well as all three of Jackson’s The Hobbit movies and the upcoming Amazon Prime series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. This will be the first major video game project for the special effects and prop company, which created its games division in 2014.
Michael Worosz, the Chief Strategy Officer at Take-Two Interactive and the Head of Private Division, spoke about the project in a new post on the company’s website.
“The Lord of the Rings IP is home to so many remarkable stories, and no entity is better equipped than the team at Wētā Workshop to create a distinctive, new Middle-earth gaming experience,” Worosz said.
The title in question is in early development and does not yet have a planned release date. However, Private Division has gone on record to say that it is expected to launch during the Fiscal Year 2024.
Amie Wolken, Head of Interactive at Wētā Workshop, also gave a statement. “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. As fans ourselves, we’re excited for gamers to explore Middle-earth in a way they never have before, and introduce new fans to the magic of The Lord of the Rings,” she said.
Private Division is known for its work publishing the Kerbal Space Program franchise and The Outer Worlds from Obsidian Entertainment. The company also published the physical retail edition of Supergiant Games’ roguelike hit Hades on PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
Recently, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum from Daedalic Entertainment was delayed. The title was initially scheduled to release on September 1.
