Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Middle-earth: Shadow
Subseries of Middle-earth
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor	2014
Middle-earth: Shadow of War	2017

General information

Official wiki for Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
		Definitive Edition also available.
Green Man Gaming		Standard edition not available in all regions. Definitive Edition also available.
Humble Store		Definitive Edition also available.
Microsoft Store		Included with Xbox Play Anywhere, Xbox Game Pass for PC. Definitive Edition also available.
Steam		Definitive Edition also available.
GamersGate (unavailable)

Steam version require Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM.^[2]^[3]

Demo

A Demo is available on Steam. Progress from the Demo will carry over into the full game.

Version differences

The Definitive Edition all includes all DLC.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Expansion Pass	Includes all DLC (both nemesis and story expansions).
Story Expansion Pass	Includes the two story expansion DLC.
4K Cinematic Pack	Free.
The Blade of Galadriel Story Expansion
The Desolation of Mordor Story Expansion
High Resolution Texture Pack	Free. Must be installed to use Ultra textures.
Outlaw Tribe Nemesis Expansion
Slaughter Tribe Nemesis Expansion
Starter Bundle	No longer available for purchase since the May 8, 2018 update that removed microtransactions from the game.^[4]

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Delete or rename video files^[5]
Go to `<path-to-game>\game\interface\videos\legal`. Delete or rename `middleware_splash` and `legal_splash_OG`.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Microsoft Store
Steam	%LOCALAPPDATA%\WB Games\Shadow of War\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/356190/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\WB Games\Shadow of War\<user-id>_ShadowOfWar.sav
Microsoft Store	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\6DA520A3.1673586F56C6C_ykvmsk3s73586\SystemAppData\wgs\<user-id>
Steam	<Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\356190\remote\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/356190/pfx/^{[Note 1]}

The game keeps 5 backup saves named <user-id>_#_ShadowOfWar.sav.

The <user-id> for the Steam save is the SteamID3 of the account in hex format.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Only the latest save is backed up.
Xbox Cloud

Video

Video settings

Advanced video settings

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor		See the WSGF report.
Ultra-widescreen		Cutscenes and menus are 16:9.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)	Use ME:SoW FOV Changer.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)	FXAA, TAA, SSAA through Scaled Resolution option.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS	Capped at 240 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

Input

Input settings

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Menu controls cannot be remapped away from default WASD.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity		Slider with arbitrary minimum and maximum values.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Generic/other controllers		See expanded button prompts
Button prompts		With a controller connected, the button style can be switched in game regardless of the type of controller that is connected. Available options are XBox One, Xbox 360 and Dualshock 4 controller button styles.

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Steam Input
Steam Input API support
Hook input (legacy mode)
Official controller preset(s)
Steam Controller button prompts
Cursor detection

Bindings settings (Talion)
Bindings settings (Eltariel)
Bindings settings (Baranor)

Audio

Audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Latin American Spanish
Arabic
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Helix Mod: Middle Earth: Shadow of War (DX11).

Issues fixed

Crashing on startup on Windows 7 machines

Download and install both the Windows 7 Platform Update and Internet Explorer 11^[6]

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	Wwise
Interface	Scaleform
Cutscenes	Bink Video	2.6e

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7 SP1	10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5-2300 2.8 GHz AMD FX-4350 4.2 GHz	Intel Core i7-3770 3.4 GHz AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	6 GB	12 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	70 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 AMD Radeon HD 7870 2 GB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 AMD Radeon RX 480 4 GB of VRAM

A 64-bit operating system is required.

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1
Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/356190/.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (356190) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

References

↑ Shadow of War highlights the strengths and weaknesses of PS4 Pro - Eurogamer.net - last accessed on 2018-10-15
↑ Steam - Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ EULA - last accessed on 2018-07-17
↑ Verified by User:Aemony on 2019-12-23
Microsoft Store version does not seem to use Denuvo Anti-Tamper based on the size of the executable (59,226 KB), the lack of connection to any of the regular Denuvo Anti-Tamper servers (neither srv01-srv03 nor revalidate.wbgames.com), how fast the game starts to initialize on launch (basically instant), as well as the lack of an offline token in any of the usual folders.
↑ Steam Community - News - Important Free Updates Coming to Shadow of War - last accessed on 2018-07-17
↑ This is how to skip intro in Shadow of War - last accessed on 2021-08-06
↑ https://middle-earthgamessupport.wbgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001097567-Direct3D-11-1-API-not-available-error

[Proton_path_note-6] 1.0 ^1.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/356190/.
Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
The app ID (356190) may differ in some cases.
Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[2] File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.

[3] Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/356190/.

[4] Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.

[5] The app ID (356190) may differ in some cases.

[6] Treat backslashes as forward slashes.

[7] See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.

[1] Shadow of War highlights the strengths and weaknesses of PS4 Pro - Eurogamer.net - last accessed on 2018-10-15

[2] Steam - Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ EULA - last accessed on 2018-07-17

[3] Verified by User:Aemony on 2019-12-23
Microsoft Store version does not seem to use Denuvo Anti-Tamper based on the size of the executable (59,226 KB), the lack of connection to any of the regular Denuvo Anti-Tamper servers (neither srv01-srv03 nor revalidate.wbgames.com), how fast the game starts to initialize on launch (basically instant), as well as the lack of an offline token in any of the usual folders.

[4] Steam Community - News - Important Free Updates Coming to Shadow of War - last accessed on 2018-07-17

[5] This is how to skip intro in Shadow of War - last accessed on 2021-08-06

[7] ttps://middle-earthgamessupport.wbgames.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001097567-Direct3D-11-1-API-not-available-error

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[Note 1]

[6]

Developers

	Monolith Productions
Publishers
	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Engines
	Firebird Engine^[1]
Release dates
Windows	October 10, 2017
Reception
Metacritic	75
OpenCritic	82
IGDB	84