Silent Hill 2 Remake director Mateusz Lenart once pitched a Lord of the Rings horror game, and now I feel utterly lost in a world without one.
First spotted by The Gamer, Lenart appeared in a recent episode of the Bonfire Conversations podcast (timestamped here) and said his dream project is a medieval horror RPG. He also expressed his passion for fantasy and Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien in particular, which prompted the interviewer to say a Lord of the Rings horror game would be “cool.”
Lenart agreed, saying, “don’t think I didn’t pitch my ideas for one.”
I suppose now’s as good a time as ever to throw my hat into the ring and also say I emphatically agree with this. The Lord of the Rings franchise is ripe with potential for horror. Remember the scene in Fellowship of the Ring where Frodo and the hobbits are hiding from the Nazgûl? It’s legitimately terrifying! And that’s just one example. The jump scare when Bilbo spazzes out after Frodo shows him the ring? The flippin’ birthing of the orcs? Lord of the Rings is low-key a horror IP already!
Anyway, sadly Lenart gave no indication that he’s actually working on a Lord of the Rings horror game, but he definitely made it pretty clear he’s game for one if Bloober Team ever gave him the budget. That said, I’d be surprised if Embracer Group ever licensed out the rights again after a certain 2023 Lord of the Rings game that wasn’t so, uh, precious.