Shadow of Mordor's revolutionary Nemesis system is locked behind a patent till 2036

Warner Bros Discovery just lately shut down a trio of game studios, together with the well-regarded Monolith Productions. This has put one of many coolest recreation mechanics of the 2010s in limbo. Center-earth: Shadow of Mordor's excellent Nemesis system is locked behind a patent owned by Warner Bros all the best way till 2036, according to reporting by Eurogamer.

The Nemesis system was featured in each 2014’s Shadow of Mordor and the follow-up Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Merely put, it’s a gameplay mechanic wherein enemies bear in mind earlier encounters with the protagonist. These antagonists, usually orcs within the LOTR video games, would use these humiliating reminiscences to gas their thirst for revenge as they rose by means of the ranks. This mechanic additionally labored each methods, so enemies would bear in mind besting you in a earlier encounter.

It was the very best a part of these two titles and Monolith had planned on bringing back the mechanic for a now-cancelled Marvel Girl recreation. Now the system is mendacity unused, locked behind a patent vault in David Zaslav’s mega-yacht or no matter. Gigantic multinational firms are superior!

*Monolith makes the superior Nemesis system for Shadow of Mordor, everybody loves it*

*WB patents it, making it just about unimaginable for different devs to make use of it*

*WB shuts down Monolith*

RIP the Nemesis system, I suppose! pic.twitter.com/z2KVkT97tV

— Cade Onder (@Cade_Onder) February 25, 2025

Warner Bros Discovery patented the system in 2016, which you can read right here. The patent is lively till 2036, as long as the corporate retains up with the related charges. It’s value noting that within the 9 years since patenting the system, it’s solely been utilized in a single recreation. That’s Shadow of Battle, which got here out in 2017 and was already in improvement when Warner Bros went forward with the patent.

It stays to be seen if Warner Bros Discovery will do something with the Nemesis system. It had 9 years of heavy recreation improvement to utilize it throughout its complete IP portfolio, however didn’t. In that point interval, loads of Batman video games and Hogwarts Legacy all got here out. These would have absolutely benefited from the distinctive mechanic. Oh effectively.

WB will nonetheless focus some assets on recreation improvement, however the firm’s efforts might be primarily spent on 4 franchises. These embrace Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, the DC universe and Sport of Thrones. Three of these 4 appear to be good matches for the Nemesis system to me.

This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/shadow-of-mordors-innovative-nemesis-system-is-locked-behind-a-patent-until-2036-195437208.html?src=rss

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