Private Division is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The brainchild of Take-Two Interactive's Michael, the subsidiary was founded by Michael and Allen Murray, and officially announced on December 14, 2017. Private Division is Take-Two Interactive's third publishing label, following Rockstar Games and 2K. Private Division funds and publishes indie games developed by small to mid-sized studios. This includes taking over Space Program, which was developed by Squad and previously acquired by Take-Two Interactive, as well as publishing titles from Obsidian Entertainment, Panache Digital Games, and V1 Interactive.
An offshoot of Take-Two, Private Division's primary job ever since its inception has been to highlight smaller-scale productions and AA games, rather than to focus on getting yet more AAA titles out of the door. Some of its previous projects and acquisitions include Space Program and The Outer Worlds, as well as the often forgotten sci-fi FPS, Disintegration.
Now, however, Private Division may have received the opportunity to work on its most prolific project yet, as the publisher just announced it's going to be developing a new Middle-earth game in conjunction with the legendary design and conceptualization company, meta Workshop. While the details about this new game are sparse, some information has already been shared.
In its latest press release, Private Division announced that it's now entered into a publishing deal with meta Workshop, where the two companies would bring an all-new Middle-earth video game to light, which is currently slated for a 2024 release date. Private Division previously signed up indie game developers such as Roll7 and widely acclaimed from a series, while its new partnership with meta Workshop may signify a bigger, more comprehensive production than some may have otherwise expected.
One curious tidbit was shared by Amie, the Head of Interactive at meta Workshop. According to her, this Middle-earth game is supposed to be substantially different from what fans have played previously, though there was no suggestion as to what this difference may entail. Some of Private Division's previous publications, such as the recently revealed Roller dome from gaming developers, have featured stark, distinctive visual styles and gameplay loops, suggesting some amount of thinking outside the box, perhaps.
Aside from a promise of making the game different, The press release doesn't offer any real details about the upcoming Middle-earth title, other than the notion that Private Division and meta Workshop's combined efforts are bound to create a "distinctive, new Middle-earth gaming experience." Take-Two Interactive promised a strong development pipeline for its daughter companies up until 2024, and odds are good that this announcement had the new meta Workshop Middle-Earth game in mind for Private Division at that point in time.
It is curious to note that Daedalus Entertainment's Gollum action-adventure is going to be coming out sometime in the near, albeit indeterminate, future. This suggests that there's been a push to create more Middle-earth games at some point in the relatively near past, and that there may be more such productions getting announced in the future, too. As of right now, fans of Tolkien's work can do little more than wait.
"For a game, you don't need a teacher"
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