Some sour news this week for those hoping to get their hands on Middle Earth: Shadow of War. Talion will return to lead hordes of Orcs in a war against the murderous forces of Sauron. Players will return to spread the influence of the Bright Lord, but not quite as soon as folks had hoped. The ranger Talion will now be pushed back two months from his initial release.
The game was originally set to release on 22 August 2017 but has been rescheduled to launch on 10 October 2017 and it will be a worldwide release but that could change again. There may also be shifts for certain regions, like Asia or Oceania, although nothing more has been announced yet.
In the blog posted on WB Games by Monolith representative, Andy stated that:
Monolith is committed to delivering the highest quality experience. In order to do this, we have made the difficult decision to move our launch date to ensure that Middle-earth: Shadow of War will deliver on that promise.
We understand that it might be disappointing to have to wait a little longer for the release and are sorry for the delay, but we are working hard to make an amazing game.
Though the game is delayed they announced that they will be appearing at E3 2017 to show off the game. The developers have also done a pretty good job showing off the continuation of Talion’s adventures in various live streams. Check out the latest video, showing off the new fortress assaults that will be a pillar of gameplay, in a video below.
The platforms have not changed though, just the release date. The game will be releasing for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
Update:
It’s likely that at least some of the issues surrounding this delay stem from fan feedback. Shadow of War has been beset by criticism since it was revealed that the game would have an incredibly needless loot box system in it. Fans were very outspoken about their distaste for having a loot box system for Orcs and items in the game, and some fans remain hopeful it will change.
There’s a very small chance that the loot boxes get removed prior to launch, but there is some hope remaining that WB and Monolith patch the system out after release.
