huge, story-driven and immersive
From Prague, the makers of Kingdom Come: Deliverance have stepped briefly into the light — not to reveal, but to reaffirm. Warhorse Studios, fielding questions from a restless community hungry for confirmation of a Middle-earth deal, chose instead to speak about what endures: their commitment to vast, story-driven worlds where detail is not decoration but doctrine. The specific shape of what comes next remains unspoken, but the studio's silence on certain questions is itself a kind of answer.
- Rumors of a Lord of the Rings license have the gaming community on edge, and Warhorse's carefully worded non-denial is only feeding the fire.
- A Reddit AMA became an exercise in controlled revelation — the studio confirming a new project exists while deflecting every attempt to name it.
- Content director Ondřej Bittner described the next game as 'a huge immersive RPG,' repeating the phrase with enough conviction to make it feel like a manifesto.
- A quiet promise to deliver fewer bugs than Kingdom Come's notoriously rocky launch signals that Warhorse is listening to its community as much as it is guarding its secrets.
- Until an official announcement arrives, fans are left holding a blueprint without an address — certain of the architecture, uncertain of the world it will inhabit.
Warhorse Studios took to Reddit this week, and the community arrived with one question burning above all others: is the Prague-based studio really building a game set in Tolkien's Middle-earth? Community manager Tom Grey answered with a smile and a closed door — noting the studio couldn't comment on future projects, unless someone happened to have a time machine handy. It was a non-answer precise enough to feel deliberate.
What the studio would discuss, however, was its creative identity. Content director Ondřej Bittner described the next project as 'a huge immersive RPG' — a phrase he returned to throughout the session — and made clear that Warhorse has no intention of drifting from the formula that defined Kingdom Come: Deliverance. 'Huge, story-driven and immersive' was the promise, along with a candid nod to the technical struggles of the first game's launch: 'hopefully not so buggy.' It was the kind of self-aware admission that earns goodwill.
The Kingdom Come series built its reputation on worlds that demanded engagement — where hunger, sleep, and literacy were mechanics, and NPCs lived on schedules indifferent to the player's convenience. That philosophy found its audience, spawned a sequel, and now apparently anchors whatever comes next. Whether that next world is Middle-earth or somewhere entirely new, Warhorse isn't saying. For now, the promise of another vast, detail-rich RPG will have to be enough.
Warhorse Studios held a Reddit session this week, and the internet immediately wanted answers about one thing: Is the studio really making a Lord of the Rings game? The studio's response was a masterclass in saying nothing while saying everything.
Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Warhorse—the Prague-based team behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2—had secured a deal to develop an RPG set in Tolkien's Middle-earth. When fans showed up to the Reddit AMA with that rumor fresh in their minds, they asked directly. Community manager Tom Grey, speaking through the official Warhorse account, offered this: "Obviously we can't comment on future projects, at least not until we're in the future (but if you have a time machine, please show us!)" It was the kind of non-answer that tells you everything you need to know about what you're not supposed to know.
But while the studio locked down the Lord of the Rings question, it was remarkably forthcoming about what it is actually working on. Content director Ondřej Bittner described the project as "a huge immersive RPG," and doubled down on that characterization multiple times throughout the session. "It will definitely be an RPG true to our colours," he said, "huge, story-driven and immersive." The studio's official account reinforced the point in response after response: this is an RPG, it's what they do, and they're sticking with it.
What's interesting is how much Warhorse was willing to reveal about its philosophy while revealing almost nothing about the actual game. Bittner acknowledged that the studio is "in the process of working on a new project"—a statement so obvious it borders on absurd—but used it as a springboard to talk about what matters to them. "We are staying true to our roots which means immersive RPG rich with details," he said. And then, with what reads like a wink to the Kingdom Come community, he added: "and hopefully not so buggy." That last bit is a knowing nod to the technical issues that plagued the first game's launch, a promise that Warhorse has learned from its past.
The studio's commitment to the immersive RPG formula makes sense. Kingdom Come: Deliverance established Warhorse as a studio willing to build massive, detailed worlds where the small stuff matters—where you have to eat, sleep, and learn to read, where NPCs follow schedules and the world doesn't pause for your convenience. That approach found an audience. A second game followed. Now, whatever comes next will apparently follow the same blueprint: big, story-heavy, packed with detail, and hopefully more stable than what came before.
As for whether that next project is actually set in Middle-earth, Warhorse isn't budging. The Lord of the Rings rumors will have to remain rumors until the studio decides otherwise. For now, fans of immersive RPGs know what to expect: another world to get lost in, another story to live through rather than simply play. The specifics will have to wait.
Citas Notables
It will definitely be an RPG true to our colours – huge, story-driven and immersive.— Ondřej Bittner, content director, Warhorse Studios
We are staying true to our roots which means immersive RPG rich with details (and hopefully not so buggy).— Ondřej Bittner, Warhorse Studios
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
So they basically confirmed nothing about Lord of the Rings while confirming everything about what they're building next. Why be so coy about the license?
Because they can't say anything until the deal is officially announced. But also because the mystery is part of the marketing now. Everyone's talking about it.
Fair point. But what struck me is how much they emphasized the bugs. "Hopefully not so buggy." That's a pretty direct acknowledgment that Kingdom Come had problems.
It is. And it matters because it shows they're listening. The first game was brilliant but rough. If they're promising to fix that while keeping everything else that made it special, that's actually a significant commitment.
Do you think the immersive RPG formula is what they're genuinely passionate about, or is it just what works for them commercially?
Probably both. But the fact that they keep returning to it, keep refining it, suggests it's genuine. They could chase trends. Instead they're doubling down on what they know.
And if it is Lord of the Rings, how does that license fit with their approach?
Perfectly, actually. Middle-earth is dense with lore and detail. An immersive RPG set there could be extraordinary—if they get the tone right and don't let the license constrain them.