A new report claims that The Lord of the Rings: Gollum developer Daedalic Entertainment’s post-launch apology was generated by AI tool ChatGPT. As spotted by X user Knoebel, information on the alleged fabrication comes from German gaming outlet Game Two, which brought the information forward during a video that contains interviews with multiple Daedalic developers (via VGC).
If you haven’t previously seen The Lord of the Rings: Gollum apology statement, it’s absolutely worth a read. Published just one day after the project’s launch in May of this year, the message gives players a few paragraphs that attempt to explain the reasoning behind its poor quality. Although it promised that patches to improve the experience were on the way, it was clear the damage had already been done.
“We would like to sincerely apologize for the underwhelming experience many of you have had with The Lord of the Ring: Gollum upon its release,” part of the statement said. “We acknowledge and deeply regret that the game did not meet the expectations we set for ourselves or for our dedicated community. Please accept our sincere apologies for any disappointment this may have caused.”
At the time, it appeared to be a mostly straightforward letter, though, fans did notice a now-infamous typo that referred to the name of the game as “The Lord of the Ring: Gollum.” If Game Two’s two anonymous sources are to be believed, then it seems the spelling error may be the fault of ChatGPT. Unfortunately, it appears the apology was anything but sincere.
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Sadly, it gets worse. Game Two says that, according to Daedalic itself, The Lord of the Rings: Gollum apology statement wasn’t even written by the studio despite the fact that it is signed with its logo. Instead, the message was posted online by publisher Nacon without Daedalic’s prior approval.
The Lord of the Rings: Gollum launched in May of this year and is one of most poorly received video games of the year. Its failure was so impactful, in fact, that only one month after launch, Daedalic announced that it would be shutting down in-house game development. This shift also resulted in 25 staff members being let go.
“We value each and every member of our team and it is important to us that the transition goes as smoothly as possible,” Daedalic management said at the time. “Therefore, we will support our former employees in finding new opportunities within our network.”
The Escapist’s Will Cruz reviewed The Lord of the Rings: Gollum at release and had harsh words to share: “Even if you’re a hardcore fan of Lord of the Rings, I would recommend avoiding this game like the plague.”
