I was chasing a whisper across forums when a name kept surfacing. You tap the same thread three times and suddenly a rumor hardens into a shape. I want to tell you what I found—and why you should care.
I’ve covered big studio bets and fragile IPs long enough to smell where serious money meets ambition. This one involves Warhorse Studios, the Kingdom Come: Deliverance team, a rumored $100 million (€92 million) backer from Abu Dhabi, and Embracer Group’s IP holdings. If it’s true, the stakes are enormous; if it isn’t, the chatter still matters because it exposes how these deals get born.
Last October Insider Gaming published a claim about a massive LOTR project
Insider Gaming reported that a major The Lord of the Rings project was in development and that the Abu Dhabi Investment Office had put up $100 million (€92 million). That’s a tangible assertion from a trade outlet with sources; money at that scale changes the conversation from rumor to something with weight.
How much is being invested in the LOTR game?
The figure being circulated is $100 million, reported by Insider Gaming, which equals about €92 million. For context, that amount is on par with mid- to high-budget AAA projects and signals more than a simple licensing experiment—it suggests long-term plans and multi-year development.
Embracer Group is the IP holder listed in those reports. When publishers and big investors like Arabian funds get involved, you get both runway and scrutiny. I’m watching how Embracer’s previous deals and publisher relationships could shape who actually ships the game.
On ResetEra a Polish developer’s comment reignited chatter
A ResetEra thread quoted Ryszard Chojnowski on a Tolkien-themed podcast called Tolkien Polska, and the rumor snapped back into view.
Chojnowski said he’d heard about a “major open-world” Lord of the Rings title and that investors from the UAE had committed funding. He also mentioned a mysterious studio name, Revenge, that many suspect is a cover for another team—people immediately pointed at Warhorse. I’ve followed Warhorse since Kingdom Come, and when a name like theirs keeps recurring, it’s worth taking seriously.
Is Warhorse making a Lord of the Rings game?
Short answer: unconfirmed. Multiple sources and forum chatter point to Warhorse, a subsidiary of Embracer, as a likely candidate, but no official announcement or credit list has appeared. Insider reports and Chojnowski’s podcast are signals, not confirmation.
The rumor is a slow fuse—persistent, not explosive yet—and that persistence is the news here. Repetition across different corners of the industry can mean someone is quietly aligning contracts, NDAs, and international funding before going public.
At a glance, Warhorse’s work shows why people imagine them for Tolkien
You only need to boot Kingdom Come: Deliverance to see why fans whisper Warhorse and Tolkien in the same breath.
The studio has a track record for painstaking landscapes, authentic period detail, and mission design that rewards curiosity. Their environments are a tapestry that already feels fit for sweeping fantasy; translate that craft to Middle-earth and you can picture scale and atmosphere that matter.
But I also have concerns you should hear. Warhorse’s recent flirtations with AI tools and automated writing—reported elsewhere—raise the specter that narrative quality could be compromised if budgets push toward faster output over careful prose. For a Tolkien project, writing is the gravity point: get that wrong and everything feels off.
Across forums and leaks, the signs point to careful planning
Insider Gaming, Embracer’s public portfolio, ResetEra threads, and a developer quote on Tolkien Polska form a web of hints.
If Warhorse is involved, you get experienced technical teams and visual fidelity; if the Abu Dhabi investment is real, you get funding depth. But authorship, script, and licensing approval from Tolkien’s rights holders still matter—those are the gates no amount of money alone can open quickly.
I’ll be following filings, publisher announcements, and credit lists from Embracer and Warhorse. You should too, because the moment this becomes official will reshape expectations for licensed RPGs.
I’ll ask you one blunt question: if a studio you trust made a vast Lord of the Rings RPG under heavy external funding, would you be excited or worried about what they’d do to the story?