Warhorse says its Middle-earth RPG will follow the studio’s own open world formula

Warhorse Studios has shared more details about its upcoming Middle-earth RPG, and the message is clear: the studio does not want to make a generic licensed game. After confirming that it is working on both a new Kingdom Come title and a Middle-earth open world RPG, Warhorse says the Lord of the Rings project will be built in the studio’s own style, with deep systems, a living world, memorable characters, and a strong narrative focus.

The update came during a community livestream, where communications director Tobias Stolz-Zwilling addressed fan questions after last week’s announcement. He confirmed that both upcoming Warhorse projects will be open world RPGs. That means the new Kingdom Come game and the Middle-earth title will both stay in the genre that made the studio known.

The new Kingdom Come game is planned for the next fiscal year if development goes well, which points to a possible 2027 release window. Stolz-Zwilling also said players will not have to wait seven years for another Kingdom Come game. Prokop Jirsa, creative director on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, will lead the next Kingdom Come project.

Warhorse wants its Lord of the Rings game to feel handcrafted, reactive, and deeply immersive

The Middle-earth RPG will be led by Viktor Bocan, who served as design director on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. That is important because Warhorse’s identity is built around grounded RPG systems, reactive worlds, and detailed simulation. The studio is now trying to bring that approach into Tolkien’s world.

Stolz-Zwilling described the Middle-earth RPG as a passion project rather than a simple work for hire. He said Warhorse is not acting like a “hired sword” and is making the games it wants to make. That should reassure fans who feared the project might only exist because the license is valuable.

Warhorse says it has grown enough to work on both games at the same time, while still operating as one large team. Some development work will still be shared between projects, which could help the studio keep its design philosophy consistent.

The most interesting part is how Warhorse plans to adapt Middle-earth. The Lord of the Rings universe has had many games, but few have tried to combine a large open world with the kind of detailed RPG systems that made Kingdom Come stand out. If Warhorse brings its usual attention to combat, world reactivity, social systems, quests, and environmental detail, this could become one of the more ambitious Middle-earth games in years.

There are still many unknowns. Warhorse has not shared the setting, timeline, protagonist, combat system, platforms, or release window for the Middle-earth RPG. It is also not clear how closely the game will follow familiar characters or whether it will focus on a new story inside the wider universe.

For now, the studio is setting expectations around tone and design philosophy. Warhorse wants players to expect an immersive open world RPG made with the same care that shaped Kingdom Come: Deliverance and its sequel. That alone makes the project worth watching, especially for RPG fans who want a Middle-earth game with more depth than a standard action adventure.