Cozy hobbit life-sim Tales of the Shire is delayed, so Weta can make the moment you step into Bywater feel special

Private Division and Weta Workshop announced the cozy hobbit life-sim Tales of the Shire is delayed until early 2025

Weta Workshop

Private Division and Weta Workshop announced the cozy hobbit life-sim Tales of the Shire is delayed until early 2025. Weta, the studio that helped bring Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings film trilogy to life, said they want to make sure first impressions when you plonk your hairy feet down into the Shire are the best they can possibly be.

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“All of us here at Wētā Workshop are excited to have you join us in the Shire, a peaceful corner of J. R. R Tolkien's world,” a Weta spokesperson said in the announcement. “When a new Hobbit steps into Bywater for the very first time, we want that moment to be everything you're hoping for.”

“To ensure we deliver that vision, Tales of the Shire will now be launching early 2025. Be sure to tune in to our A Hobbit Day Showcase on September 22 to learn more about Tales of the Shire and our new release date.”

The Hobbit Day showcase will cover some Shire life’s day-to-day basics – cooking, fishing, marketplace shopping, foraging, and all the other chill stuff you’d expect to do if you were a happy Halfling with nothing but time to spend.

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It seems like a natural fit for a cozy game, though in all the many Lord of the Rings-adjacent video games over the decades, Tales of the Shire is the first one that actually puts the Hobbit habitat at the center of things. It's been a rough few years for Lord of the Rings games, after the Gollum game launched in such a broken state and Return to Moria was an unwelcome return to design philosophies of an age gone by. With the recent track record being what it is, I’m more than happy for Weta to take as much time as they need with Tales of the Shire.