Despite a rocky start, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum managed to make its mark on the UK’s boxed game sales charts in its debut week. The game, which received negative reviews from critics, surprisingly attracted a decent number of buyers willing to give it a chance.
To say that Gollum had a challenging launch would be an understatement. The AAA title has garnered the unfortunate distinction of being the worst-rated game of 2023 thus far, with abysmal scores from nearly all gaming media outlets. Currently, on Metacritic, the game holds a critic score of 35 and an even lower user score of 1.2. Criticisms primarily revolve around slow and repetitive stealth mechanics, dull puzzles, numerous bugs, and underwhelming graphics. Despite the overwhelming criticism, however, some players still opted to give Gollum a try.
In the week ending May 27, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum secured the sixth spot in the UK’s top-selling games list. It placed behind more popular titles such as the new Zelda, FIFA 23, Hogwarts Legacy, Mario Kart 8: Deluxe, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. According to reports, 70% of the sales were on the PS5 platform, while only 20% were on Xbox consoles. It’s worth noting that these figures are based solely on physical sales in the United Kingdom, and the absence of physical media support for the Xbox Series S may have influenced the sales numbers.
The game’s association with the beloved Lord of the Rings franchise likely contributed to its sales, despite the disappointing critical reception. The developers of Gollum even issued an apology for the state in which the game was released, acknowledging the need for improvements. It’s possible that as patches addressing the current issues are released and the LotR brand continues to attract fans, sales figures may experience an upswing in the future.
Interestingly, despite the challenging debut, Daedalic Entertainment is already working on another game set in the Lord of the Rings universe. The company recently received €2 million in funding from the German government for the development of a second game in the Middle-Earth realm. While details about the upcoming title are scarce, hints suggest that it may revolve around wizards. Codenamed “It’s Magic,” the game’s release date is yet to be determined.
Fans of The Lord of the Rings franchise will undoubtedly be keeping a close eye on the future of Gollum and the promising developments in the works. Whether the game manages to overcome its initial setbacks and leave a lasting impact in the gaming world remains to be seen, but the potential for redemption and further exploration of Middle-Earth is undoubtedly exciting.
