Cozy Lord of the Rings game pops up for the first time in 6 months with a sneak peek, and there's "more to come soon"

Tales of the Shire artwork
(Image credit: Private Division)

An upcoming cozy Lord of the Rings game has shared a first look at its artwork after being announced in September, and there's "more to come soon."

Almost exactly six months ago, developer Weta Workshop and publisher Private Division revealed Tales of the Shire, a "cozy" and "heartwarming" Lord of the Rings game. Now, we've finally got another very brief glimpse of the upcoming title. There's a lot to learn about the mysterious game but judging by its teaser trailer and this new artwork, we're expecting a life sim based in Middle-earth. 

Now, the official Tales of the Shire Twitter account has shared a concise video that gives us our first look at the world we'll soon be exploring. In the video, we see what looks like a very serene day in Hobbiton, with Hobbits fishing, chatting, and picnicking alongside a chicken and a duck. No other information is given, other than a caption on the post that reads: "Welcome Home, Hobbit."

With so many life sim and Lord of the Rings fans out there, it doesn't take much for people to get excited about this game. Very quickly after this tweet was shared, tons of fans flocked to the replies to ask when we'll be getting a trailer, release date, etc. Unfortunately, we're still none the wiser on any of these things right now. 

The main Tales of the Shire Twitter account may not have given us much to work with, but one of its developers has shared something interesting. Calliope Ryder, lead producer on Tales of the Shire at Weta Workshop, tweetedshortly after the key art was revealed: "FINALLY!! HOBBIT GAME SNEAK PEEK!!" before adding: "So proud of the team and what we’re making. More to come soon!!"

Looks like we'll have to keep ourselves busy while we wait for more info on Tales of the Shire. The good news is the Stardew Valley 1.6 update is here which adds so much new content to the game that fans will have a lot to keep them busy for now. 

Find out what other farming sims are out there with our games like Stardew Valley list.  

Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.