Private Division today dropped a trailer for an upcoming cozy game: Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game. Weta Workshop Game Studio, the game-focused branch of the company that worked on the previous Lord of the Rings film trilogy, developed the title. Private Division, the publisher, announced plans to launch the new game in the second half of the year on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Steam.
The game takes place, as the name suggests, in the Shire, the home of the Hobbits in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Players create a Hobbit who lives in the village of Bywater, and whom they can customize as they please. They can then live out the idyllic life of a Hobbit — decorating their subterranean Hobbit homes, cooking up a plenitude of meals, gardening, farming and fishing. They’ll also be able to make friends with fellow Bywater residents, explore the rest of the Shire and help throw the Bywater Festival.
Kelly Tyson, Weta’s head of product, said in a statement, “We’re excited to provide players with the opportunity to fulfil their fantasy of living their own humble Hobbit life in the Shire. Tales of the Shire brings a cozy new dimension to the way fans can experience Middle-earth, with plenty of wholesome, Hobbit-centric gameplay to win-over newcomers to the genre.”
This news comes shortly after the Embracer Group, which owns the Lord of the Rings IP, announced it is splitting into three separate entities. One of these is Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends, which will control and license the Tolkien titles — including to Weta Workshop.
The Lord of the Rings series has generally adapted well to video game adaptations — most recently, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel, Shadow of War, made a splash with their Nemesis system. However, last year’s The Lord of the Rings: Gollum got a much more negative reception. There are also more titles in the works, as Amazon is reportedly working on a Lord of the Rings MMO.