‘The Lord of the Rings: Gollum’ has been delayed until 2022

A stealth game based on the tricksy ways of Gollum from The Lord of The Rings will not be released until 2022, the studio has said.

Deadalic Entertainment has officially announced that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will be released in 2022 rather than 2021. While slippery Smeagol himself would probably point an accusatory finger of blame at poor old Samwise Gamgee for this delay, we just hope that it means a smoother game at launch than the likes of Cyberpunk 2077, whose much-publicised travails surely serve as a warning to other game developers.

Read More: Cyberpunk 2077 has already lost nearly 80 percent of its player base

Once released, we simply can’t wait to play it. Inspired by Tolkien’s literary works, this third-person stealth game will see the titular character sneaking around threatening characters such as orcs, in order to get his hands on that which he prizes most, all the while struggling with his split personality; the good-natured Smeagol and the villainous Gollum.

The trailer above shows the wretched creature emerging from the caves under the Misty Mountains, and viewing from afar Sauron’s lair at Mount Doom, and we’re looking forward to exploring these and other locations made famous by the books and films, through those famously bulbous eyes.

But looking on the bright side, its later release date might at least make the near future blissfully free of your unfunniest friends doing ear-scraping imitations of the distinctively hoarse-voiced character, who seems to be the third most popular choice of unambitious amateur impressionists (just behind Borat and Michael Caine).

Read more: Seven hells! There’s another Game of Thrones prequel in the works

Video games will not be the only medium to provide you with a trip back to Middle Earth in the next few years, as Amazon is producing a TV series based on Tolkien’s beloved stories. On top of that, multiple spin-off series of Game of Thrones are also currently in development, so fantasy fanatics can rest assured that there’s plenty of precious content on its way.