Bad news for anyone looking forward to Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Monolith Productions has confirmed the project will miss its original launch date, Aug. 22, and will now debut in early October. But the studio isn’t saying much else about the Shadow of War delay yet.
Word of the delay broke on the official Middle-earth: Shadow of War forums, via a new post from community Manager Andy Salisbury. The post wasn’t especially wordy, nor was it replete with information about the current state of the game. We didn’t get a new trailer or teases about the Shadow of War content that will be unveiled later this month. Just confirmation that Middle-earth: Shadow of War is the second major release of 2017, alongside Red Dead Redemption 2, to be pushed off its original launch date.
“Middle-earth: Shadow of War expands gameplay in every dimension, including the massive open world, the story, the RPG systems, and personal player stories of the Nemesis System,” Salisbury wrote. “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. We’re excited to show more at E3.”
The good news is Middle-earth: Shadow of War will still be present at E3 2017. The press -- and those fortunate enough to get one of the public passes -- will still get a chance to play an early build of the game. And it sounds like there might be an announcement or two during Geoff Keighley’s new E3 Coliseum endeavor. And if waiting until early October means we’ll see even more substantial additions to the Nemesis system, along with the game’s other mechanics, it’s hard to be too upset about a six-week delay. The bad news is that some territories, including Australia and Japan, will have to wait even longer to get their hands on Shadow of War .
For another look at Middle-earth: Shadow of War , while we wait for whatever information the studio chooses to release during E3 2017, take a few minutes to check out the gameplay trailer published last month. Then head down to the comments section and let us know if you’re planning to pick up a copy of Shadow of War when Talion charges back onto PC and consoles this fall.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is in development for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC. The game debuts Oct. 10.
Be sure to check back with iDigitalTimes and follow Scott on Twitter for more Middle-earth: Shadow of War news in 2017 and however long Monolith supports Shadow of War after launch.
- Nemesis system does an even better job of letting players witness and tell unique, action-driven stories
- Most of the narrative content is just plain boring
