Private Division and Wētā to join forces for a new game set in Middle-earth

pcinvasion.com:

We’ve got another game set in Middle-earth on its way, this time from publisher Private Division and Wētā Workshop. The news was announced earlier today from Private Division’s official Twitter account. While details for the project are still under wraps, this could shape up to be an interesting project. Wētā Workshop will develop the title, with Private Division acting as the publisher.

A blog post on Private Division’s website shares more details on the upcoming game. It doesn’t reveal much, but does say that the “title is in early development and does not yet have an announced release date.” It then goes on to say that players can expect it during Take-Two Interactive’s fiscal year 2024. It’s also worth mentioning that this game will be based on the books, rather than the films.

Wētā should be familiar to fans of The Lord of the Rings, as it made the special effects for the films. First and foremost, it’s a company that works on film projects to produce special effects and props. However, in 2014, Wētā Workshop opened an in-house game development studio. Since then, we haven’t seen any titles come out of the oven. But this project could end up being a big one.

We’re thrilled to announce that we have partnered with @WetaWorkshop to publish a new game set in the literary Middle-earth universe of J.R.R. Tolkien. We look forward to sharing more about the project in the future! pic.twitter.com/z9HxvXe7Da

— Private Division (@PrivateDivision) August 15, 2022

It’s unclear what we should expect from this new Middle-earth game. It could be an alternative take on the storyline of the books, a prequel, or a new story altogether. And from there it could either be an open-world adventure or maybe something more unique like an RTS.