With The Warner Bros Sale Pending, A Petition Has Begun To Free Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor’s Nemesis System
Sam (He/Him) is the former Managing Editor of DualShockers and is now Senior Reporter at TheGamer. He’s been in and around games media for six years now and has held a variety of roles within the industry, including staff writer, SEO editor, managing editor and global head of gaming content.
During this time, he’s hosted a PAX panel, interviewed game directors, reviewed some of the biggest games, attended Gamescom, Summer Game Fest, and Tokyo Game Show and covered some of the hottest news stories.
He’s been playing video games for as long as he can remember, and you can regularly find him on his PS5 or Nintendo Switch. When he’s not playing games, he’ll no doubt be watching his beloved Ipswich Town.
The Nemesis System patent is one of the biggest travesties in modern gaming. Created, implemented, and patented by the now-defunct Monolith Productions (which was owned by Warner Bros), the system saw Shadow of War and Shadow of Mordor’s Orcs rise through the ranks every time they prevailed over your character.
With each promotion, these Orcs became more powerful, more twisted, and more hell-bent on taking you down. It added a layer of depth and complexity to what would have otherwise been a pair of totally serviceable Lord of the Rings-focused Action-RPGs.
Unfortunately, however, the system was last seen in 2017’s Middle-earth: Shadow of War, with Warner Bros. showing clear disregard for the patent and its potential impact on future video games. It seemed to have died alongside Monolith, but there is now a glimmer of hope.
With Warner Bros’ sale to Netflix (or now potentially Paramount Skydance) on the horizon, players and developers are hoping the patent will be removed, so much so that a new petition has been created asking the prospective buyer to release the Nemesis System for all.
There Is Renewed Hope That The Nemesis System Could Be Freed
Over the last few days, news broke that Netflix is in talks to acquire Warner Bros., including all of its gaming IP. Should the sale go through, with a competing hostile takeover bid from Paramount Skydance now also in consideration, Netflix would own DC, Harry Potter, The Matrix, and most pertinently in this case, the Nemesis System.
With hopes that Netflix will play the “good guys” here, a new Change.org petition has sprung up, asking the company to “unlock the Nemesis System.”
The petition calls the Nemesis System “one of the most groundbreaking innovations in modern gaming,” and asks potential signers to “Imagine a world where RPGs, action games, strategy games, roguelikes, and survival games are infused with emergent narratives and dynamic characters, made possible through the widespread availability of the Nemesis System.” The implementations are truly endless, and if done correctly, could reshape video games forever.
While, at the time of writing, the petition has only 484 signatures, there is hope that it will begin to gain traction, enhancing “Netflix’s reputation as an industry leader but also setting new standards for promoting innovation and creativity in gaming.”
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