Skip to main content

Topple Sauron’s army endlessly with free ‘Middle-earth: Shadow of War’ DLC

middle earth shadow of war dlc timeline review 014209
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Middle-earth: Shadow of War already has a substantial amount of exciting content, but we’d never complain about new content for a great game — especially when it includes free content. Warner Bros. has outlined Shadow of War‘s post-launch content, some of which arrives very soon.

On November 21, a trio of free updates arrives in the open world action game.

The previously announced Endless Siege mode arrives, which tasks players with defending fortresses from Sauron’s army. Sieges have been a part of the Shadow Wars endgame since launch, but the update will remove the restrictions on the number of Shadow Wars events players can participate in.

Along with Endless Siege comes Rebellion. The description from WB reads: “Crush the rebel Ologs and Uruks in your forces as they seek to undermine the Bright Lord.”

The third November 21 item isn’t new content but a new feature. Shadow of War will receive an enhanced photo mode to let players apply filters, enhance textures, and change frames to in-game screenshots.

Two weeks later, on December 5, a pair of additional free updates arrive. Online Fight Pits will let you challenge other users’ Orc followers in arena fights to the death that net upgrades and “powerful rewards.” And if you’re feeling brave, a new Brutal difficulty level will feature “no last chances,” making it harder than Nemesis difficulty.

WB also hinted that more free content would be on the way next year.

As for paid content, WB revealed that the game’s first expansion pack, “Slaughter Tribe,” will be available alongside the first wave of free content on November 21. On December 12, the “Outlaw Tribe” expansion pack arrives. Both of those two pieces of paid DLC add a new tribe, missions, fortresses, challenges, conquests, and legendary gear.

Owners of the game’s $40 season pass will gain access to both of those tribe expansions, as well as the two story expansions that arrive next year. “Blade of Galadriel” launches in February, while “Desolation of Mordor” rounds out the season pass in May. Each of the story expansions put players in the shoes of someone else other than Talion (Eltariel and Baranor, respectively).

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Steven Petite
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…
Volgarr the Viking 2 will take you back to your Ghosts ‘n Goblins days
A viking slashes a tree in Volgarr the Viking 2.

Developer Digital Eclipse is working on a surprising project: Volgarr the Viking 2. The 2D retro sequel will launch on August 6 for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

The news is an out of left field reveal. The first Volgarr the Viking game released in 2013 and was made as an ode to 1080s classics like Ghosts 'n Goblins. Despite being a small release, it sold over 1 million copies over the past decade. As revealed during today's Guerrilla Collective stream, the series is coming back with a new sequel by Digital Eclipse, the team behind this year's Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story.

Read more
3 Days of Play PS Plus games to try this weekend (June 7-9)
Key art for Streets of Rage 4.

June 2024 is shaping up to be a pretty great month for PlayStation players. Not only are we coming off an entertaining State of Play showcase, but a new Days of Play initiative surrounding all the video game showcases this month is bringing a lot of new PS Plus additions with it. Many of those games hit PS Plus this week, and three in particular stand out to us.

For owners of Sony's oft-neglected PlayStation VR2, the first game is one of its rare exclusives that take full advantage of the headset's eye-tracking by seeing how often players blink. The next is a new PS Plus Essential game that's a revival of Sega's classic beat-'em-up series for the modern gaming era. Finally, the last title is an atmospheric and eerie fishing game that should entice fans of Lovecraftian horror.
Before Your Eyes

Read more
3 first-party Xbox Game Pass games to try this weekend (June 7-9)
Gears 5 Kait Hero Close Up

Microsoft will hold an Xbox Games Showcase and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Direct. this Sunday. These shows will provide a much better idea of what to expect from Xbox over the course of the next year or two. That's really needed right now, as Microsoft has struggled to keep online discussions around Xbox positive as it went multiplatform with some games, laid off thousands of developers, and outright shut down the developers of Hi-Fi Rush and Redfall. Based on leaks and my personal expectations for the showcase, there are three games you can play on Xbox Game Pass this weekend to prepare for the event.

The first is the latest first-person shooter in a long-running series by id Software that might be getting a medieval-set spinoff. After that, we have the fifth entry in a sci-fi Xbox series that still looks fantastic on Xbox Series X/S even though it came out in 2019. Finally, you can prepare for Avowed with the latest RPG from Obsidian Entertainment, a satirical sci-fi game where player choice is critical.
Doom Eternal

Read more