The new patch for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is due tomorrow

UK 5pm update: Daedalic Entertainment has apologized for the poor release condition of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.

In a public statement, it acknowledged that the game “did not live up to the expectations we set ourselves”.

“We would like to sincerely apologize for the disappointing experience many of you had with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum upon its release,” the statement reads.

“We acknowledge and deeply regret that the game did not live up to the expectations we set for ourselves or our dedicated community. Please accept our sincere apologies for any disappointment this may have caused.”

The statement continues, with Daedalek saying the game has been the biggest challenge yet.

We are committed to providing you with patches that allow you to enjoy the game to its fullest potential.

The full statement is in the tweet below.

---

Original 3pm UK story:
Daedalic Entertainment, publishers of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, have announced that a patch for the game will be released tomorrow.

Prior to the game’s release yesterday, a one-day patch was added to address crash issues in the PS5 version (a fix that previously involved turning off hair animations). However, several reviewers—including Christian Donlan—cited a number of issues that made the game unplayable across all platforms.

“As you can already imagine, we are aware of the feedback provided by the preview testers,” reads a statement to Eurogamer from Daedalic. Most of the issues mentioned, especially crashes, were related to the console version of the game and we have already patched the game accordingly.

He continues: “Make sure we keep a close eye on the launch period and listen to your feedback. More details will be shared tomorrow once all the information is gathered.” Eurogamer understands that a patch is being worked on.

Digital Foundry is already busy analyzing the game’s performance across all console platforms, but early indications – even with a day-one patch – are far from positive.

On PlayStation 5, the day one patch removed a number of visual effects in order to stabilize the frame rate. You can see the differences in the screenshots below.

Some of the other screenshots below on PS5 show frame rate drops regardless of the visual mode used. Performance mode is often less than 60fps, while RT quality is less than 40fps.

On Xbox, it’s a bad situation on both Series X and S consoles. On Series X in RT quality mode it oscillates above 30fps, while on Series S in Performance mode it’s below 30fps.

Expect a more in-depth look from Digital Foundry in the coming days. PC performance won’t be tested, but it will likely be similar to the console versions.

Until then, a review of Lord of the Rings: Gollum is available to read now: “A strong sense of character is let down by poor controls, lackluster execution, and bugs,” Donlan wrote.

“With the best will in the world, if you’re coming to this for the story, you settle for fifteen hours maneuvering Gollum through the jagged, abstract landscape of Tolkien’s Basket of Papers.”