LOTR Gollum Dev Explains Why Elvish Language Is Locked Behind Paywall

Daedalic Entertainment, the developer behind The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, has explained why you’ll need to pay additional money for the characters to speak Elvish (Sindarin) throughout the game.

For those who are unaware, Elvish is the native language spoken by elves in The Lord of the Rings franchise. It was first introduced in the books, then brought to life in the films. Thanks to Eurogamer, we have a statement on why the dev team decided to lock Elvish behind a paywall.

Daedalic explained that the Elves in the game would speak their native language “from time to time,” even if you don’t purchase the language DLC. They also explained that the DLC adds additional lines for background characters and that they “went the extra mile” to hire voice actors trained in Sindarin by experts. It’s a DLC meant for “Tolkien devotees who want to immerse themselves.”

Below you can find the full statement:

“The Elves in the base game will speak in their tongue (Sindarin) from time to time,” Daedalic said. “On top of that, the Sindarin VO expansion adds additional Sindarin lines to some of the characters in the background. While traversing through Mirkwood and other parts of middleearth Gollum will be able to listen to various dialogues between Elves. These dialogues add to the atmosphere and worldbuilding. With the Sindarin VO these dialogues will be held in Sindarin.

“Daedalic went the extra mile here and hired professional voice actors, who were trained in Sindarin by our lore experts. It is a DLC for the real Tolkien Devotees who want to immerse themselves even more into the world of Middle-Earth.”

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is expected to be released on May 25, 2023, on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.