Nintendo Switch 2 Getting Former GOTY Winner and Its Sequel With Imminent New Release
A former Game of the Year winner and its sequel are set to surprisingly release on Nintendo Switch 2 at the end of the month. Since its launch last year, a number of third-party publishers have slowly been porting their most popular games to Nintendo’s latest console. Thanks to the increased power that the Switch 2 offers, titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Street Fighter 6, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, and countless others have been able to run natively on the hardware, whereas they couldn’t on the original Switch.
As of today, developer Aspyr unexpectedly revealed that it will be bringing both Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War to Switch 2 in a single package. The aptly titled Middle-earth: Shadow Bundle is set to drop on September 30th and will contain both of the popular Lord of the Rings games along with all of their accompanying post-launch DLC. Aspyr will be selling this bundle at a price of $70, but it is currently offering the collection at 50% off its normal value for those who opt to pre-order it.
Originally released in 2014, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is widely considered the best Lord of the Rings video game ever. So much so, in fact, that Shadow of Mordor went on to win numerous Game of the Year accolades thanks to its excellent combat and revolutionary Nemesis system. These ideas were expanded upon in 2017’s Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and while the game wasn’t as big of a hit as its predecessor, it still received strong reviews across the board.
What makes this release of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Switch 2 particularly notable is that it’s the first time both games have ever appeared on Nintendo hardware. Rather than this being a situation where Aspyr is merely upgrading these titles on Switch 2 from their original iterations on Switch (which many publishers have been doing), this will instead represent the first time that Nintendo users have ever been able to play these games for themselves. As such, it makes the sudden announcement and imminent release of these ports that much more exciting.
Moving forward, Aspyr is expected to continue porting and remastering older Lord of the Rings games from the past onto modern platforms. This endeavor first began last month when Lord of the Rings: War in the North received a new release across current-gen consoles and PC. While Aspyr hasn’t said what other Lord of the Rings video games are next on tap to be brought forward, we’ll be sure to let you know here on ComicBook once the developer shares more info on this front.