2023’s Worst Game Just Got A Pretty Big Patch

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, one of this year’s worst games, received a massive update on July 27 that addressed multiple issues across all platforms.

Developer Daedalic Entertainment shared the update on the game’s Steam store page, thanking everyone for their patience rolling this patch out. Some of the headlining fixes of update 2.2 revolve around performance issues when deep learning super sampling (DLSS), a video rendering technique powered by AI, was turned off. This has been set to “auto” by default to prevent stuttering, primarily on PC. Other big problems included quest markers that would randomly disappear and interactable objects suddenly becoming non-interactable. Both of these issues have been fixed in the patch.

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There were plenty of other problems with Gollum, too. The camera, for instance, would get stuck on walls or inside Gollum himself, spin around the environment endlessly, or shake nonstop after certain enemy encounters—all of which have been addressed with update 2.2. Missing environments were put back in place, unfortunate progress blockers—such as one that killed Gollum during the beetle conflict early in the game—were ironed out, “required checkpoints” that weren’t there have been established, and localization issues were fixed. All in all, update 2.2 appears to make Gollum a more playable experience.

Kotaku reached out to Daedalic Entertainment for comment.

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This is all great news. Gollum was universally dragged when it launched on May 25. From its abysmal controls to its bland UI, the game was so derided for all its problems that Daedalic Entertainment not only apologized for the “underwhelming experience” Gollum presented and promised to address the issues, the development arm of the German studio shut down on June 30, telling German news magazine GamesWirtschaft—and confirming to Kotaku in an email—that 25 of its over 90-person team had been impacted.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Update 2.2 Patch Notes

• Adjusted DLSS default mode from “off” to “auto” to prevent stuttering and performance issues when playing with RTX without DLSS.
• Resolved a low reproducibility bug where parts of the environment could be missing.
• Fixed an issue where quest markers could disappear after continuing from the main menu.
• Fixed an issue where interactable objects become non interactable after restarting.
• Fixed Bugs in the checkpoint system to improve the titles stability and clear annoying gameplay bugs
• Corrected the issue of the Bird losing the player’s chosen color in the breeding mission.
• Fixed the Bell in “Thranduil’s Halls – Cellars” being placed before the player placed it.
• Resolved a malfunctioning interactable object in “Thranduil’s Halls – Cellars.”
• Fixed a conditional blocker that caused Gollum to die if restarting during the beetle conflict.
• Fixed an unresponsive situation where the Pause Menu overlapped with a Game Over screen.
• Addressed the issue of losing mouse focus when opening settings.
• Fixed a blocker in the tower of light where the guard could see the player after spawning.
• Increased the chase radius for the “Cruel Woman” chase to prevent save games where the player cannot keep up anymore.
• Fixed a locked camera issue in the cart sequence in the “Sewers.”
• Improved Bird Training Spy Mission and Morning Visits, fixing several bugs.
• Resolved missing environment issues in “Tower of Light.”
• Fixed cog wheels spinning in random directions.
• Fixed nervous hands achievement behavior.
• Adjusting DLSS mode and sharpness when loading a save from a previous version.
• Fixed background sequence causing blocker behavior in Sewers.
• Overall fixes for background sequences.
• Fixed a Game Over screen in the tutorial when restarting from the main menu during the chase sequence.
• Fixed a possible bypass in Tower of Light Day 6 that caused a blocker.
• Fixed a softlock in Shadow Mountains when jumping off a cliff during a checkpoint.
• Added required checkpoint to Great Halls Low Day 1.
• Fixed malfunctioning trigger in Beast Pits Day 3.
• Fixed unresponsive menu issue after quitting from Gamma settings.
• Unloaded sublevel issue in the Black Pits cart mission fixed.
• Halls of Grond & Execution chambers – fixed and adjusted rotating wheels.
• Fixed extra camera shakes.
• Gollum Groom is now covered correctly by translucency while still respecting DOF and refraction.
• Fixed possibility to end the Sewers without killing both orcs.
• Fixed some localization issues.
• Fix excessive camera rotation during frame drops.
• Solved the issue of no sound in the cutscene of Cook’s death.
• Fixed KingsGrove missing sublevel when the escape orcs quest started.
• Resolved tutorial checkpoint issue in the chase mission.
• Fixed German conflict menu choice being displayed as French.
• Fixed several VO subtitle inconsistencies.
• Fixed Pause Menu malfunctioning after initial load of the game.
• Refresh animation state when Gollum is pushed by another character in crouch mode.
• Added missing “Hold” to Food tutorial in German and both traditional and simplified Chinese.
• Fixed a blocker in Mines Day 2 where the environment would unload before reaching the 3rd tunnel.
• Redundant collectibles removed for ending levels.
• Fixed unresponsive puzzle door in Ruins Outside when loading from Main Menu.
• Fixed blocked progress after the throttle tutorial when restarting from a checkpoint.
• Fixed Gollum floating at the beginning for Chapter 2.
• Fixed a softlock in Outer Gardens where Gollum would be detected immediately after spawning.
• Resolved Gollum staying in the shadow form even after exiting the shadow volume.
• Fixed softlock in “Queen Cascades” where it’s possible to avoid quest dialog when loading checkpoint.
• Fixed missing Mell water spot VFX when loading checkpoint.
• Fixed missing Grashneg lantern issue when loading checkpoints in Shelob’s Lair.
• Fixed unresponsive map / collectible screen when spamming open / close buttons.
• Improved NPC navigation around Gollum.
• Fixed a conditional blocker when returning from haze in Haze Gate.
• Kings Grove – fixed incorrect quest marker when loading checkpoint.
• Fixed wrong spawn location, direction, and missing quest marker on a specific checkpoint in the Finale.
• Fix for wall running not always triggering correctly.
• Riverpath fixed invisible 2 elves’ issue at the end of the level.
• NorthTower flying platform room improved visual effects.
• Fixed a conditional blocker in Breeding Hills when the spymission NPC group became immobile.
• Added a missing intuition path and relocated a wrongly placed intuition path in Riverpath.
• Fixed malfunctioning door hole in Ruins Outside when transitioning from the Main Menu.
• Fixed incorrect visit number in Cells when returning with the lights to the cook.
• Fixed NPCs in Tower of Light Day 9 not being aware of Gollum when returning from the Main Menu.
• Fixed punctuation in Lore Compendium.
• Resolved the issue of input hints flickering.
• Fixed the title remaining unresponsive when opening the Pause Menu while selecting Gollum or Sméagol before the inner debate.
• Synced data for DLSS Support, setting Fidelity fx2 to 0 when DLSS Support is false.
• Fixed blockers in North Tower when reloading a checkpoint and trying to interact with the winch.
• Added missing localization files.
• Fixed fluctuating groom when the game is paused.
• Fixed an issue in Bird Breeding where the inquisitor wouldn’t move or play the dialogue when reloading a checkpoint.
• Resolved an unresponsive door puzzle dialog blocker in Ruins Outside.
• Fixed the issue where falling due to stamina loss while turning on a bar prevented Gollum from climbing afterward.
• Fixed missing environment issue in Kings Garden on the 2nd visit.
• Fixed misplaced damage volume in Kings Garden.
• Discarded input when the controller disconnects.
• Added an input to close the message window of the disconnected device.
• Fixed the bush not restoring its state after reloading a checkpoint.
• Resolved missing environment in Mirkwood Chase when loading a checkpoint.
• Fixed a conditional blocker in Mines when restarting after picking up the last tag.
• Fixed the delivery bridge environment in Sewers when reloading.
• Adjusted the wrong Grashneg scale in Sewers.
• Fixed infinite Game Over screen in Construction Low when sweeping through a specific checkpoint.
• Fixed the wrong state of the door when transitioning from Tower of Light to Bird Breeding.
• Resolved incorrect camera spline in Shelob’s Lair during the 2nd chase.