Fans of The Lord of the Rings and cozy video games like Stardew Valley rejoice; a new Hobbit-centered game is slated to release in 2024! Tales of the Shire was just recently announced as a project from Wētā Workshop and Private Division. While not much has been said or shown, the potential for another great title in the universe created by J. R. R. Tolkien is exciting.
Here is everything we know so far about Tales of the Shire and the two companies behind it. We will keep this page updated should any new announcements come out about the game, but for now, this is everything we know.
What will Tales of the Shire be about?
Hobbits and cozy gameplay. That’s it. The 42-second teaser hasn’t really clued us into anything else, but they keep reiterating that the game will be cozy and will contain hobbits. We do know that it will be “different from what fans have played previously,” based on a statement from Amie Wolken, the head of interactive at Wētā Workshop.
Since the majority of video games set in the world of The Lord of the Rings have revolved around killing Sauron’s minions or large RTS battles, a Stardew Valley-esque farming sim where you play a hobbit in The Shire doesn’t sound that far-fetched. That said, until we see some gameplay or a full trailer from the devs, everything is still up in the air.
When does Tales of the Shire release?
Tales of the Shire is set to release in 2024 on both PC and console. There’s no exact date or quarter mentioned in the announcement, but since Q1 of 2024 is just a few months away at this point, it’s safe to say that you shouldn’t expect Tales of the Shire until Q2-Q4. That’s based on the usual timeline for announcements and releases, however, so that’s not to say that dates don’t change in the future.
Who is working on Tales of the Shire?
Tales of the Shire is a project brought to us by Wētā Workshop and Private Divison. If you’re a huge fan of the film trilogy and a bit of a cinema buff, you might remember the name Wētā Workshop since they did all the special effects for the first three films and have been involved in numerous other projects afterward. The game studio division of Wētā Workshop was established in 2014 and is based out of Wellington, New Zealand.
Private Divison, on the other hand, is a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive and has lots of experience helping smaller to mid-sized studios publish their games. They helped with the original Kerbal Space Program, brought Hades to consoles, and published The Outer Worlds, among many other games.
Is there a Tales of the Shire trailer?
There is currently an official teaser, but there is no trailer. The game is set to release sometime in 2024, so a trailer is likely to appear in the coming months as we get closer to the release date. You can watch the short teaser above, but it doesn’t exactly show much since it only runs for a little over 40 seconds.