The Lord of the Rings New Release Confirmed for the End of September
The Lord of the Rings is getting a new release at the end of this month. More specifically, on September 30. That said, those interested in said release will need a Nintendo Switch 2 because it comes courtesy of the new Nintendo console. Those who check both of these boxes will also need $70, or half of this, $34.99, if they are willing to pre-order, aka hand over their money early in blind confidence that the new release will be good. Thankfully, said release is two ports of pre-existing games, so unless the ports are terrible, any potential pre-orders know what to expect.
On September 30, specifically, Aspyr will release, via the Nintendo Switch 2, Middle-earth: Shadow Bundle, which, as its name implies, combines Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel Middle-earth: Shadow of War. The bundle actually includes the Game of the Year edition of the former and the Definitive Edition of the latter. This is to say, the two base games, plus all of their DLCs, which explains the $70 asking price. While both games are getting up there in age, combined they offer a ton of content. That said, each will also be available to purchase individually, but there’s no word on price. You will presumably pay more for each game this way. As for each game, these are just ports. In other words, each game is in its original form. These are not remasters. In fact, they aren’t even enhanced ports.
A Game of the Year Contender and Its Sequel
For those unfamiliar with these two games, the first, Shadow of Mordor, was released in 2014, a historically slow year in terms of salient video game releases. In fact, it’s arguably the worst in gaming history, at least modern gaming history, in this regard. This allowed a Lord of the Rings game with an 84 on Metacritic to be one of the year’s Game of the Year contenders, and in some instances, winners.
The action-adventure game takes place between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. And in 2017, it got a sequel, Shadow of War. Unfortunately, the sequel was not as good, as evidenced by its lower Metacritic scores. It also notably released into quite a bit of controversy for its microtransactions. Both games were made by US developer Monolith Productions, which shut down in 2025. As a result, these were the final two games the studio made.
Both games hold up well in 2026, mostly because of their unique Nemesis System, a patented system that made both games stand out and allows them to stand out over time. For those that do not know, this is a system that allows non-playable characters to remember their prior interactions with the character and react accordingly in subsequent encounters. This is obviously the elevator pitch of a fairly complicated and impressive system that you don’t quite get in any other game.