Shadow of War Drops Microtransactions This July

It’s an Easter miracle. After realising that, hey, maybe this game is really anti-consumer, WB Games and Monolith have decided to remove microtransactions in all forms from the polarising Middle-earth: Shadow of War this July.

In a blog post, WB Games announced the decision:

“The core promise of the Nemesis System is the ability to build relationships with your personal allies and enemies in a dynamic open world. While purchasing Orcs in the Market is more immediate and provides additional player options, we have come to realize that providing this choice risked undermining the heart of our game, the Nemesis System. It allows you to miss out on the awesome player stories you would have otherwise created, and it compromises those same stories even if you don’t buy anything. Simply being aware that they are available for purchase reduces the immersion in the world and takes away from the challenge of building your personal army and your fortresses.

“In order to fully restore the core promise of the Nemesis System, we’ll be permanently removing Gold, War Chests and the Market from Shadow of War. This means the option to purchase Gold with real-world money and the ability to gain Orc Followers from War Chests will be removed. There will be a specific amount of time given for players to utilize their unused Gold. If players have unused Gold by the end of the time allotted to spend it, any remaining Gold will be converted to in-game items.”

This is really for the best. The Nemesis system was one of the most innovative mechanics seen in gaming for years when it was introduced for Shadow of Mordor, so it was the industry at its very worst when that jewel was taken and wrapped up in microtransactions.

It’s also worth noting that chests won’t be disappearing from the game entirely; you just won’t be able to buy war chests with real-money. I really hope they patch out that hand-rubbing orc as well. That was incredibly myopic on WB Games’ part.

If you have used real-money for Shadow of War’s loot chests, you have until July 17th to spend it, after which it will be converted into in-game items. As an aside, the yawn-inducing Shadow Wars will be getting new updates to make it seem less like it was tacked-on at the very last minute.

While it’s good that the decision has been reached to remove microtransactions from the game, WB Games and Monolith were really left with no choice. Alongside Battlefront 2, Shadow of War was one of the big games to really invigorate the discussion about monetisation in full-price games. With Battlefront 2 now dropping its gambling simulator elements, Shadow of War basically just had to follow suit.

I played and reviewed Shadow of War at release and mostly enjoyed it. The microtransactions weren’t too offensive in the main storyline (apart from the constant reminders to buy war chests) but were certainly incentivised for the post-game. That, and a couple of other issues, contributed towards it ultimately being a disappointing experience in my eyes:

“There’s a lot to love about Middle-earth: Shadow of War, though it often creaks under the weight of its own lofty ambitions. It’s not helped by ludicrous storytelling and irritating basics, but if you want to potentially lose days of your life to enslaving orcs and riding drakes, you’ll be in for some fun.”