The Lord of The Rings: Gollum - What Happened?

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The dramatic irony in all of this is that a Point'n'Click adventure game starring Gollum would've probably fared better overall. It wouldn't have been a blockbuster, probably just be something that hardcore LotR fans would seek out, but it also would've fit more into the budget and scope that Daedelic could manage. RIP Daedelic, hope everyone who got let go because of this utter mismanagement landed on their feet

I’m surprised he hasn’t done a whole video on THQ yet. That’s a very interesting yet depressing spiral they go through.

Honestly I've seen a German video about this where they even interviewed some of the workers and it's horrifying to hear the abuse they had to go through. It's a shame because I really loved their point&click adventures. I just hope those people find work where they'll be appreciated. Edit: The video is by "Game Two" and also has eng subtitles as mentioned in a comment below. It's an indepth documentary about the studio and especially about the working conditions.

This is honestly a really sad story, as a German I can say that over here Daedalic was very much not an under the radar developer. They were known in Germany at least, and part of the reason why point & click adventures are still popular in Germany. Seeing them go down like this is a real blow to the German gaming industry that is not very large, we have only a handful of notable studios and Daedalic was one of them. It stings every time a studio has to close down but it does sting a bit harder in this case because there is comparatively little else to cushion that blow.

The worst part is that a Gollum game is not the worst idea ever, they could've made an entire game that would be a true survival horror set in TLOR world and show how Smeagol and Gollum fight for control of the other, even showing that Gollum as slimy as he is does keep them both alive but oh well, at least dreaming is free

Man, this one's sad to see. It's a rare thing to see a project just so thoroughly doomed from the start. Usually there's another world where it could have worked, but the moment Daedelic higher-ups decided they were going to make a game like this, there was no saving it. Gollum was doomed from inception, and that's a rare thing indeed

I'm german and here in germany, the name Daedelic used to have a good reputation for their adventure games which were excellent. it was a really well liked studio and to have seen it end like this... its really really sad and kinda heartbreaking but it is what it is

This whole game seems like it would have gone so much better if Daedalic had stuck to their adventure gaming roots and made this closer to a Telltale-style one.

I am really (negatively) surprised, by how Nacon manages to avoid the negative publicity it sorely deserves. This company is really an "AA version" of the likes of EA or Acti - yet nobody talks about their pathologies. They are the guys behind subpar release of VtM: Swansong; and another hero of Matt's series, "Werewolf: The Apocalypse". They are behind the ultra-scummy release of "Blood Bowl 3"; the botched condition of a really promising "Ad Infinitum"; they even have their yearly sport series in "Rugby" or "Cricket". They really are a wannabe EA, with all the related flavours.

Two things I’m surprised that Matt didn’t point out is the horrific Gollum design, like he looks so weird, and also the fact that you had to buy dlc for a lore compendium, you know the thing that every game with a deep story has

"This has to be a record!" - in reference to the development team being shut down in a month after release. Matt, I'm from the future and let me tell you the tale of The Day Before"

OH no you broke my heart in the very first few minutes! I never put together that the same devs who made the very awesome Deponia series made this! oh that hurts me, that hurts so much.

One of those messy development stories that's going to be a lot more sad than funny. Amidst all the backlash I really feel for Daedalic going under. Knowing devs were pushed into a super ambitious project on a shoe-string budget and tight deadlines. All while being forced to juggle new mechanics they had minimal experience with. Honestly think it might have worked if they had simply been allowed to go forward with the project being a weird little point-and-click adventure game like their usual style.

Daedalic made some truly excellent point and click titles, like The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav and the Deponia series. Shame they had to go out like this.

My favorite part of the game is when Gollum locks himself in a bathroom, devours a sandwich and starts having panic attacks.

I knew about Daedalic (since I'm an adventure games fan) way before the Gollum game's release, so it was sad to hear that the studio had decided to stop developing games afterwards (only focusing on publishing). I saw some people talk about the studio in such a way that it felt obvious to me they weren't familiar with Daedalic or its previous works. Their previous games are point 'n click games, with 2D art styles, and a focus on puzzle-solving. The Gollum game appeared to be a disempowering stealth game, in a 3D space, with platforming mechanics. It was such a mechanically different game from their previous experience.

Everywhere I hear about this game I always see a follow up question of “Who even wanted this game?” Which always made me feel bad for thinking before hand that a choice-based story game starring Gollum I felt had a LOT of potential, and that wasn’t just a bias of him being my favourite LOTR character. The mechanic of having to convince your other half to make a decision I felt had AMAZING potential if done right. You never see that at all in choose your own adventure games and it could have been a great way to immerse you in the schizophrenic Gollum’s shoes. If only they actually wrote Gollum decently and properly to warrant that interesting game mechanic

14:31 I can't wait for the inevitable "Skull Island: Rise of Kong - What Happened?" video.

As soon as I saw the first trailer of the game, I knew it would be here eventually, not for anything good, but never THIS bad.