It's too early to thank Middle-earth: Shadow of War for its microtransaction U-turn

Well, well, well. First EA stripped progression-based microtransactions from Battlefront II, now Shadow of War is following suit. But is this a hollow gesture? Too little too late?

While EA's Star Wars Battlefront II took the brunt of the criticism for last year's huge microtransaction backlash, many missed that it was Middle-earth: Shadow of War that primed discussions revolving around their encroachment on "AAA" console games.

Shadow of War, a follow up to 2014's excellent Shadow of Mordor looked set to be a sure-fire hit, building on the great systems that made its predecessor so engaging. Yet, Warner Bros and Monolith undermined the game's core systems (by its own admission), allowing gamers to circumvent gameplay by offering extra cash.

Six months on, and several far superior open world games later, Shadow of War's microtransactions are going byebye, but I can't help but feel like this is a hollow gesture – too little too late, for a game that clearly didn't achieve its full potential. If nothing else, Shadow of War will serve as a cautionary tale to greedy publishers.

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