The Epic Games Store Summer Showcase had quite a few announcements to share for fans, the first of which was a brand new game set in The Lord of the Rings universe.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a co-op survival crafting game set in the Fourth Age of Middle-earth, pitting players as a troupe of dwarves trying to retake the abandoned Mines of Moria. Here’s the official description via North Beach Games:
“The game offers endless experiences by featuring a procedurally generated Dwarven realm of Moria, so no two adventures will be alike, and every expedition is traversable either solo or online with companions. Players can mine to craft greater gear and resources, but beware, mining makes noise, and noise created in the quiet deep threatens to awaken the dangers below: where there’s clatter, there’s combat. Excavate the mysteries of three legendary mountains, extract precious metals, scrape to survive, and battle unspeakable forces to learn the secret of the Shadow that lurks within.”
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is set to release Spring 2023 and will be an Epic Games Store exclusive.
There were a handful of other announcements during the showcase as well, and we’ll run through each of them in chronological order.
Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed
A new trailer was shown off the new asymmetrical Ghostbusters game, showing off the Ectoplast type of ghost. As the trailer notes “These free-roaming ghosts are known for producing excess amounts of ectoplasmic slime.”
Shoulders of Giants
Shoulders of Giants is a brand new Epic Games STore exclusive, and it’s a roguelike that has players simultaneously controlling a gun-toting frog and a sword-wielding robot. The game also supports up to four-player co-op.
Sifu Summer 2022 Update
A new trailer was shown off for Sifu’s Summer update, which brings a host of new gameplay modifiers like faster enemies, unbreakable weapons, bullet time, and more.
Tchia
A new trailer was shown off for the platforming adventure game Tchia, showing the main character’s unique soul-jumping mechanic that lets them take control of any animal or object. Tchia launches Early 2023.
Splitgate
The critically-acclaimed arena shooter Splitgate is officially coming to Epic Games Store, and will even sport new modes and remastered maps. The free-to-play game will hit EGS in Q3 2022.
Disney Speedstorm
Disney Speedstorm is an upcoming cart racer featuring some of the most iconic characters from the company, like Mulan and Sully from Monsters Inc. The showcase’s new trailer shows off a black and white track inspired by Steamboat Willie. A Closed Beta is currently available on Epic Games Store.
Gigabash
Gigabash looks a lot like the classic Godzilla Destroy All Monsters, letting you decimate city blocks as two colossal kaiju fight. The new trailer reveals Rawa, the Dragon King who bears a bit of similarity to Godzilla himself.
Rawmen
Rawmen is an incredibly strange-looking multiplayer game that has eight scantily-clad men fighting it out with food-themed weapons. The showcase announced a beta coming to the Epic Games store on July 1. You can sign up on the official Rawmen site.
Space Punks
Space Punks is a twin-stick shooter that has players traveling across a wacky universe, and tonally it looks similar to something like Borderlands. A new trailer shows off various locations and announces an open beta happening now on Epic Games Store.
