Middle Earth: Shadow of War is Removing Microtransactions

When Middle Earth: Shadow of War was first announced, people were pretty excited. It had everything: dragon-things, sexy spider women, more orcs than you could shake a fist at, and loot boxes. Fans were excited about everything except that last bit, which caused a fair amount of controversy that doubled up when fans realized that late-game PvP was effectively pay-to-win, as you could spend your hard-earned cash on super-tough orcs that would thrash the competition. Warner Brothers, in the face of this controversy, bravely stood their ground, and insisted that the loot boxes were an essential part of the game experience.

And now, six months later, they’re being removed:

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.

So… yeah. I can safely assume no one saw this coming. If you have any in-game currency, you’ll have until July 17th to spend it. After which, any leftover gold will be turned into in-game items and removed entirely from the game. And before you ask, no, loot boxes aren’t being removed entirely, just the premium ones. The ones you can earn in-game will remain.

As a part of this update, the Shadow War will be reset (presumably to keep players from buying a top spot and staying there), and will be “improved with new narrative elements and streamlined for a more cohesive experience”.

Okay. It’s… kind of weird it took them six months to realize this, but heck, the loot boxes were the biggest reason I didn’t pick this bad boy up at launch. Maybe this will make me change my mind? I'll wait until the updated reviews come out. Mama didn't raise no impulse buyer.