While some industry speculators guessed Larian might be the studio to pick up the mantle of the next great fantasy epic, recent reports and deep-dives into the European development scene suggest that the long-rumored $100 million Middle-earth RPG Lord of the Rings project has finally found its home at Warhorse Studios, the Czech developer behind the Kingdom Come: Deliverance series.
The transition from rumor to maybe more of a credible industry lead began to solidify in late 2025 when Insider Gaming first identified a massive, open-world Lord of the Rings project under the provocative codename “Project Revenge.” At the time, the developer remained a mystery, though the scale was linked to a substantial investment from the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.
However a connection to Warhorse Studios gained traction this month following public comments from Ryszard Chojnowski, a nearly thirty-year industry veteran whose history with CD Projekt RED carries significant weight in the RPG community.
Speaking on the Tolkien Polska podcast, Chojnowski revealed that multiple sources within the development sphere have identified Warhorse as the primary team behind the project. The “Revenge” codename itself acts as a compelling piece of evidence, as it was the internal working title for the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance long before it became a household name for RPG fans.
Beyond the codename, the corporate logic behind this particular pairing is difficult to ignore. Both Warhorse Studios and Middle-earth Enterprises reside under the expansive umbrella of the Embracer Group.
Following a major internal restructuring, Embracer recently rebranded its core gaming division to Fellowship Entertainment, a move clearly intended to centralize and prioritize the Lord of the Rings IP. Utilizing an internal powerhouse like Warhorse allows the publisher to maintain creative control while leveraging a team already famous for crafting “lived-in” medieval worlds. It suggests a tonal shift for the franchise, moving away from the arcade-inspired action of the Shadow of Mordor era and toward a grounded, narrative-heavy experience that matches the scale of a production like Hogwarts Legacy.
The timing for such a massive undertaking aligns perfectly with the studio’s current trajectory. With the primary launch cycle for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 winding down, the 250-person team is uniquely positioned to transition into full production on a new epic.
Meanwhile, Larian Studios has officially bowed out of the race, confirming at the recent Game Awards that they are returning to the Divinity universe for their next project. While the world still waits for an official teaser (perhaps as early as the upcoming Summer Game Fest?) the evidence points toward a Middle-earth seen through a grittier, more historical lens than ever before.
More as we have it.
