In many ways, Gollum is all of us during the pandemic. The famed Lord of the Rings/Hobbit character hangs out by himself, talks to his volatile inner voice, and yearns for a precious beyond his control (i.e. a PS5). I was looking forward to playing as him in The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, a stealth video game scheduled for 2021, during the (hopefully) waning days of the pandemic. But now, like his precious ring being snatched away from him, our chance at playing the game this year has been thrown into Mordor.

According to a tweet from the game developer Nacon, the team is joining forces with publisher Daedalic Entertainment to work on the team together, and Gollum "will be released in 2022 on Xbox and PlayStation consoles, Nintendo Switch and PC. More news to come in the future." No other explanations were given for the delay, though my guess would involve a pandemic-exacerbated crunch on producing a product of enough quality during unideal working conditions (and, let's be fair, I'll take as long a delay as possible if it means avoiding a Cyberpunk 2077-esque debacle).

What can we expect from the game once it's released in 2022? According to lead game designer Martin Wilkes, you'll be playing "in two distinct states: Either stealthily making your way past the various hulking threats living in Mordor, and making narrative choices as the warring personalities of Sméagol and Gollum fight for control." So it's the weaponless stealth of a Hitman combined with the narrative shenanigans of a Heavy Rain? 2022, that precious year, can't arrive fast enough!

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum will arrive on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, and PC sometime in 2022.