I had high hopes for The Lord of the Rings Gollum. While its concept was less conventional compared to other Lord of the Rings games, I was intrigued by the complexity of the character and the advertised Smeagol vs. Gollum system. However, Gollum’s peculiar underground journey failed to meet my expectations, a sentiment reflected in its Steam player count.
As noted in our review of The Lord of the Rings Gollum, there wasn’t much to admire about the gloomy adventure of the former Hobbit. Having watched several playthroughs myself (I do have a life, I assure you), I’m still uncertain whether it was intended to be an RPG or a clunky platformer. In any case, The Lord of the Rings Gollum struggled to attract a player base.
After learning that the game’s apology statement was purportedly generated by an AI tool called ChatGPT, I delved into the game’s Steam statistics, and they are quite disheartening.
Over the past 30 days, The Lord of the Rings Gollum has averaged only three players, and in September, it averaged 3.2 players. According to Steam Charts, there hasn’t been a single day in October without at least one period where the game had zero players. It appears Gollum will have to navigate the Orc camp all by himself.
While I thought the player statistics for Redfall were disappointing, this one genuinely saddens me. I have cherished memories of growing up with The Lord of the Rings and enjoying titles like Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. A part of me had hoped that Gollum would bring something fresh and exciting, but it seems that’s not the case.
It has been a while since we had a noteworthy Lord of the Rings game. While the upcoming cozy game from Private Division and Wētā Workshop looks charming, I yearn for that grit, sorrow, and conflict. Hopefully, Amazon’s mysterious new Lord of the Rings-inspired MMORPG will fill that void.
Additionally, there’s another upcoming PC game that might capture your interest if you’re a Middle-earth enthusiast: Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. You can explore all the details we have about the Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria release date, or if you simply want to satisfy your fantasy cravings, you can check out our list of the best fantasy games on PC.