2024 has been a pretty solid year for video game releases. AAA first-party titles like Astro Bot and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle managed to exceed expectations, and a plethora of innovative indie games like Neva, Balatro, and UFO 50 have continued to break new ground for the industry at large. Now the final chapter of 2024 is coming to an end, and it’s time to get excited about the games 2025 is about to bring, like Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game.
Announced back in September 2023, Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game will see players live out their coziest Hobbit dreams. There’s a lot of potential in such a well-fitting premise, and fans will get to see if it can live up to expectations in March. And though Tales of the Shire is far from the only game releasing early next year, it has a few tricks up its sleeve that should help it to stand out among the crowd.
Related
Why a Lord of the Rings Horror Game Would Be Strangely Perfect
As the Lord of the Rings franchise continues to explore unconventional video game ideas, it should consider exploring horror with its themed elements.
Tales of the Shire Doesn’t Need to Worry About Its Early 2025 Release Date
Tales of the Shire Is Just One of Many Video Game Releases in Early 2025
2025 is quickly shaping up to be potentially one of the biggest years in video game history, and it all starts in just a matter of weeks. While January will bring games like Sniper Elite: Resistance, Citizen Sleeper 2, and Dynasty Warriors Origins, February marks the true beginning of 2025’s imminent landslide of long-awaited titles.
February 2025 is set to bring Civilization 7, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Avowed, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, and Monster Hunter Wilds to the table, all within the span of mere weeks. And as if that wasn’t enough to last many players the entire year, March has another handful of anticipated games waiting in the wings, such as Split Fiction, FragPunk, Atomfall, and Killing Floor 3.
Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game is set to launch right in the middle of this early 2025 onslaught, on March 25.
How Tales of the Shire Will Be Able to Stand Out in a Busy Period
But Tales of the Shire might not need to worry about the overcrowded market it’ll suddenly find itself in. While there are many highly-anticipated video games set to release in early 2025, none of those could really be considered “cozy” video games. The vast majority are grand, open-world action-adventure titles, and the rest are strategy games, first-person shooters, or co-op adventures. The closest competitor Tales of the Shire might have is Ivy Road’s farming game Wanderstop, which is releasing a whole two weeks before the Hobbit life-sim.
Along with its distinct genre, Tales of the Shire also has strong brand recognition on its side. As its name clearly spells out, Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game is based on the beloved fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s creation. That means fans can expect to see plenty of Easter eggs and references to the wider Lord of the Rings series in Tales of the Shire, including some cameos from some major franchise characters. New Lord of the Rings games are still quite a rare occurrence, so Tales of the Shire will probably stand out just fine come its March release date.
Leave a Reply