Middle-Earth: Shadow of War will remove its microtransactions after feedback from players in an update coming soon.

In an announcement on their community forums, Monolith confirmed that the ability to buy all chests in the game is being removed, with the chests remaining in the game, but they can no longer be purchased with the game’s virtual currency, gold.

“The core promise of the Nemesis System is the ability to build relationships with your personal allies and enemies in a dynamic open world,” the community post reads. “While purchasing Orcs in the Market is more immediate and provides additional player options, we have come to realise that providing this choice risked undermining the heart of our game, the Nemesis System. It allows you to miss out on the awesome player stories you would have otherwise created, and it compromises those same stories even if you don’t buy anything. Simply being aware that they are available for purchase reduces the immersion in the world and takes away from the challenge of building your personal army and your fortresses. In order to fully restore the core promise of the Nemesis System, we’ll be permanently removing Gold, War Chests and the Market from Shadow of War.”

Players who currently have gold have until 17th July to cash in. Gold itself will no longer be for sale after 8th May.

Additionally, the post mentions that Shadow Wars, the post-game fortress defense campaign, will be updated with new narrative elements, and be streamlined with new improvements to the gameplay that will be detailed later.

After the loot box controversy last year, this is just another dent in the microtransaction market. Are you for or against it?

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