New patch for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum due tomorrow

UPDATE 17:00 MB: Daedalic Entertainment has apologized for the poor release state of its Lord of the Rings: Gollum game.

In a public statement, she admitted that the game “didn’t live up to the expectations we set for ourselves”.

“We would like to sincerely apologize for the overwhelming experience many of you have had with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum following its release,” the statement said.

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

The statement continues, with Daedalic stating that the game has been its biggest challenge to date.

“We are committed to providing you with patches that will allow you to enjoy the game to its full potential.”

The full statement is in the tweet below.

A few words from The Lord of the Rings: Gollum™ team pic.twitter.com/adPamy5EjO

— The Lord of the Rings: Gollum (@GollumGame) May 26, 2023 To view this content, please enable target files. Manage cookie settings

ORIGINAL STORY 15:00 MB: Daedalic Entertainment, publisher of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, has stated that a patch for the game will be released tomorrow.

Ahead of the game’s release yesterday, a daily patch was added to address crashing issues with the PS5 version (a fix that previously involved disabling hair animations). However, multiple reviewers – including Christian Donlan himself – have cited a number of issues that have made the game unplayable on all platforms.

“As you can already imagine, we are aware of the feedback brought in by early testers,” Daedalic said in a statement to Eurogamer. “Most of the issues mentioned, especially the crashes, were related to the console version of the game and we already fixed the game accordingly.”

Lord of the Rings: Gollum | Story trailer

He continues: “Rest assured that we are closely monitoring the launch period and listening to your feedback. More details will be shared tomorrow once we have compiled all the information.” Eurogamer understands that an updated update is in the works.

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

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

PS5 version before and after day one patch.

Some further screenshots below on the PS5 show frame rate drops regardless of which visual mode is used. Performance mode is often below 60 FPS, while quality RT mode is below 40 FPS.

Gollum on PS5 in Performance and Quality RT mods.

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

Gollum on Xbox Series X and S.

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

Until then, our Lord of the Rings: Gollum review is available to read now: “A strong sense of character is weakened by poor controls, patchy implementation and glitches,” Donlan wrote.

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