Highlights
- The Lord of the Rings: Gollum faced numerous controversies, which may be due to behind-the-scenes issues and toxic work environment, according to a recent report.
- The game received poor reviews and failed to meet sales expectations, and now allegations are being made of leadership enforcing unpaid overtime and attempting to pay staff below minimum wage.
- The developer, Daedalic Entertainment, has faced backlash and fallout following Gollum's negative reception, including the pause of another Lord of the Rings game and a shift to publishing instead of in-house development.
One of the year's worst-received video games, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, now appears to be an even more controversial title. A new report has made a number of disturbing allegations against the people in charge of the game's development at Daedalic Entertainment. The report is the latest in a long line of controversies surrounding the development and release of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.
The game was originally announced in March 2019 and was delayed several times before being released in May 2023. Upon its release, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum was one of the worst-reviewed games of the year and failed to meet the publisher's sales expectations. As it turned out, a big reason for the game's shortcomings may have had to do with behind-the-scenes issues and disturbing behavior on the part of those in charge.
In a recent video, the German publication Game Two spoke to over 32 people who worked on the game and broke down what went wrong behind the scenes. This included but was not limited to enforcing uncompensated overtime, attempts to pay the staff below minimum wage and what has been described as an overall toxic work environment made possible by bad leadership. Furthermore, the game apparently cost just under $16M to make, and at least one developer described the environment as having "an atmosphere of fear." This report was also the same one that revealed that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum's apology was written using ChatGPT without the development team's knowledge or consent.
In addition, sources at other publications like IGN further corroborated these stories, stating that the toxic practices used by Daedalic were an open secret in the German gaming industry. A denial from the publisher was included in Game Two's video but the fallout from the game's performance and alleged mismanagement can already be seen. It was originally revealed in May 2023 that Gollum's developer was working on another Lord of the Rings game. Development on that untitled game has been paused, likely as a result of Gollum's poor reception.
Furthermore, it was revealed in June 2023 that Daedalic Entertainment was done making games after laying off several members of its staff. While the studio did not fully close, it will be shifting to publishing as opposed to in-house development. How these allegations will affect the company going forward remains to be seen.
Source: IGN