Daedalic Entertainment shuts down internal game development to focus on publishing

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum developer Daedalic Entertainment will end internal game development and focus solely on publishing going forward, the company said today.

In a statement, the company described the move as both a “difficult turning point” and “new beginning in the long history of Daedalic Entertainment.”

The move will affect 25 of Daedalic Entertainment’s more than 90 employees. In a statement to GamesWirtschaft, a company representative said, “We value each and every member of our team and it is important to us that the transition goes as smoothly as possible. Therefore, we will support our former employees in finding new opportunities within our network.”

Work on another The Lord of the Rings game, which has been in development since 2022, will be halted as part of the restructuring.

The upcoming Deponia game, Surviving Deponia, is currently in development by external company AtomicTorch Studio and is therefore unaffected.

Daedalic Entertainment is a subsidiary of Nacon, which acquired it in 2022 and published The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. The game launched to largely disappointing reviews on May 25.