Snowblind Studios’ Lord of the Rings: War in the North has returned with a brand-new remaster by Aspyr Media. The remaster, which is the first of many LOTR remasters on the horizon, marks the game’s first re-release since its original launch in 2011.
In fact, the game’s original 2011 launch may be a main factor behind its relative obscurity until this point. Lord of the Rings: War in the North didn’t just release in 2011, but in November 2011. November 1, 2011… ten days before The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Game designer Christian Allen recalled the original game’s release date in a discussion on social media. Alongside praising the new remaster, Allen explained that they fought the original game’s release date, but executives hunting their holiday bonuses pushed the game to launch just before Bethesda’s RPG juggernaut.
“Wow, this is cool. 15 years ago I argued vociferously not to release this up against Skyrim, as it wouldn’t get a fair shake. I got overruled,” the developer said, explaining that he was on the game’s leadership team at the time. “Nice to see it get a proper release.”
“Quarterly revenue motivations drive more decisions than people realise,” Allen continued. “It’s a big challenge with stock-price driven organisations. Must be hard to be an exec and go ‘Well, this game will do better if we hold it until March, but my bonus will take a 50% hit.’”
Allen explained that the game’s Skyrim-adjacent release date essentially took the wind out of the game’s sales. Combined with poor marketing, Lord of the Rings: War in the North was really only picked up by hardcore LOTR fans or on heavy discounts at game stores and on Steam.
“At the time it really seemed to get lost in the wash,” Allen remembered. “And every review just compared it to Skyrim (as I predicted they would).” Nevertheless, the developer explained that it’s “great to see it get a resurgence”, although the game is hilariously launching alongside the Nintendo Switch 2 port of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.
Lord of the Rings: War in the North, at least in its original form, is pretty rough around the edges. It has that Xbox 360 grey-brown smear, it’s combat isn’t brilliant, and it’s story isn’t the best. However, it is a pretty damn fun co-op experience, and one I’ve played through multiple times. I mean, it’s no Skyrim, but it’s definitely worth a shot.
As for the future of The Lord of the Rings games, it’s looking very active. Amazon is seemingly working on trying to make a AAA Middle-Earth game, which could possibly end up cancelled considering its track record. Outside of that, though, Kingdom Come: Deliverance studio Warhorse is working on a AAA open-world RPG set within Tolkien’s fantasy world, and that just sounds lovely.
