Shortly after the news took off about a new Lord of the Rings game being in the works at Kingdom Come developer Warhorse Studios, Insider Gaming – who exclusively reported on such a project being in development at Embracer back in October 2025 – added it had learned new details from “those close to the game’s development.” On 31st March, the site revealed the main developer on at least one Lord of the Rings project could be Crystal Dynamics, the studio known for its work on the Tomb Raider series.
At the time of writing, CD is busy with two new Tomb Raider entries: Legacy of Atlantis (a second remake of the original) and Catalyst, set for release in 2026 and 2027 respectively. The new claims raise a number of questions, the main one being how the developer could be also leading the creation of a massive Lord of the Rings video game. The pedigree seems like a perfect fit, but with four rounds of layoffs hitting it in recent times, we can’t help but raise our eyebrows at the suggestion.
Insider Gaming reached out to the main parties involved: “When asked for comment on both what Warhorse is working on and the Crystal Dynamics-developed game, Embracer reiterated that it does not comment on rumours or speculation. Crystal Dynamics also declined to comment.” As we discovered yesterday, Warhorse Studios has been looking to recruit workers to help with the creation of a mystery Unreal Engine-powered game, so if I had to bet, I’d still put my money on the Kingdom Come studio.
Regardless, Insider Gaming isn’t shooting down the recent chatter surrounding Warhorse, as Embracer has been teasing a big return to high-profile LOTR games, and more than one big project could be in the works. The original report also suggested the ADIO-backed one was being tackled by more than one studio, so maybe Embracer is putting several of its larger teams to work on the same behemoth.
