A new trailer forThe Lord of the Rings: Gollumleft a vocal portion of the fandom concerned about the upcoming game, adding to the existing skepticism surrounding the project. The latest promo dropped weeks after Daedalic Entertainment announced anew release window forLOTR: Gollum.Announced in early 2019,Gollumwas initially slated for a 2021 release before slipping into 2022, when it was delayed twice more. While few fans were expecting it to challenge for the title ofthe highest-ratedThe Lord of the Ringsgame ever, those consecutive postponements added to the initial doubts about Gollum’s ability to carry a game.RELATED:New Lord of the Rings Gollum Trailer Shows Off Middle-Earth, Gandalf, and MoreThose concerns seem to have been exacerbated by the March 9 debut of the latestLOTR: Gollumtrailer, with many fans now once again questioning the decision-makers responsible for greenlighting the project. Apart from the fact that Gollum doesn’t exactly give off protagonist energy, a portion of the fandom also argued that diluting his story with an original adventure is redundant, positing that Tolkien already gave him a perfectly complete character arc. Others have taken online to voice their disappointment with the fact that the protagonist isn’t voiced by Andy Serkis, who played Gollum inLOTRmovies. Others still took aim at the fact that even this latest trailer offered little in the way of actual gameplay beyond “1-second snapshots,” as one fan put it, which—four years from the game’s original announcement—they found frustrating. For clarity, the developers didreveal plenty ofLOTR: Gollumgameplay detailsin the past, but only in writing.
Beyond the fact that many fans are taking to social media to express their skepticism aboutLOTR: Gollum, the game’s latest trailer also appears to be struggling with gaining the simplest form of online traction, likes. For example, the trailer post from the game’s official Twitter account had a 0.53% like ratio across over 230,000 impressions in its first four hours. Meanwhile, the like ratio of the new promo on YouTube was in the 4% ballpark during this same period.
YouTube audience approval rates of game trailers can vary wildly, so direct comparisons aren’t always easy or possible. That said, one relevant reference point illustrating howGollum’sYouTube reception isn’t as bad as the eye test suggests is the latestWo Long: Fallen Dynasty"Next Gen Immersion Trailer," which had similar timing and viewership traction, while also centering on a game with a sizable marketing budget; that particular video currently has half theGollumtrailer’s like ratio despite featuring a fairly popular, non-controversial game by comparison. Furthermore, there are still cautiously optimistic takes on the game to be found on social media, many of which denounced the current criticism as needlessly cynical bandwagoning.
WhetherLOTR:Gollumends up proving its doubters wrong or not, existing fans skeptical of the project can at least take some solace in the fact that this isn’t the lastThe Lord of the Ringsgame planned to debut in the foreseeable future. Arguably the most exciting prospect out of those upcoming titles isa AAAMiddle-Earthgame that’s currently in developmentby New Zealand-based Weta Workshop, targeting a tentative 2024 release.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollumis coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S sometime in 2023.
MORE:The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Needs to Tap into the Protagonist’s Brutality
