Middle-earth: Shadow of War May Have Microtransactions
By Dalton Cooper 02 March 2017
Even though the game is slated to release this coming August, fans still know very little about the recently announced Middle-earth: Shadow of War. However, some clues as to what the game will entail can be gleaned from its Steam page, which claims that the upcoming Middle-earth: Shadow of War will have “in-app purchases” – also known as microtransactions.
Unfortunately, the Middle-earth: Shadow of War‘s Steam page doesn’t elaborate on what it means by in-app purchases, but it seems likely that the “war chest” items included in the game’s special editions are Shadow of War‘s microtransactions.
At the time of this writing, we have no idea what the war chests in Middle-earth: Shadow of War are, but we do know that different tiers of them are available based on which special edition players pick up. Presumably, lower tiers of these war chests can be found in-game as well, though their purpose is unknown.
While they’ve been known to be in single-player games, microtransactions are more commonly found in multiplayer titles. It’s possible that Middle-earth: Shadow of War will do more than just continue Talion’s single-player adventure; it could also introduce multiplayer to the franchise. After all, Warner Bros. Interactive hasn’t shied away from adding multiplayer to single-player focused games in the past, like it did with Batman: Arkham Origins, for example.
It’s worth noting that the multiplayer in Batman: Arkham Origins was not well-received, and it wouldn’t make much sense for Warner Bros. to try to shoehorn multiplayer into Middle-earth: Shadow of War. A more likely possibility is that the game’s microtransactions will be tied to the single-player story, though it’s tough to say what players will possibly receive from the war chests to make them worth purchasing with real-world cash.
Fans wanting to know what kind of “in-app purchases” Middle-earth: Shadow of War will include may have to wait until much closer to launch. Having said that, more concrete information on the game could come sooner, possibly at the pre-E3 Project Scorpio event that Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has hinted at on Twitter. After all, Middle-earth: Shadow of War is the first game confirmed for Project Scorpio, so it seems like featuring the game alongside the new console is a no-brainer.
Hopefully Warner Bros. is ready to share more information about Middle-earth: Shadow of War‘s microtransactions sooner rather than later, so fans have a better idea of what to expect from the new game when it launches this coming August.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War will be available on August 22nd for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Project Scorpio.
