Shadow of War: Free Update released, removes In-Game Market and adds New Features

Warner Bros has released a new update for their open world action sequel Middle-earth: Shadow of War, which removes the in-game market and adds a number of other changes to the game.

Head back to Mordor as a new free update for Middle-earth: Shadow of War has arrived today, which features a number of improvements, new skins and also finally removes the dreaded in-game market once and for all. Since release many of gamers have been disappointed back the progression system for the game with the in-game market requiring players to money to unlock new followers, but now fans can rejoice as the market has been officially ended today. This isn't the first update to tackle the in-game market, with work starting on an earlier update a few months back on May 8th with the Desolation of Mordor DLC Update.

The free update launched today also includes a number of enhancements to the game such as raising the follower cap, changes to the post-campaign Shadow Wars which adds new dialogue and rewards players with new abilities. Plus there are some new skins and legendary gear available to give you even more to look forward to, in addition to the hundreds of other improvements to make Shadow of War the best it can be. You can get your hands on the Free Update today on all platforms.

Below you'll find some of the bigger changes available today with the July 17th Update. You can take a look at the full list of changes over on the Steam Page for more info.

Shadow of War Changes

• Removal of the Market: The market and microtransactions have been completely removed from Shadow of War. Orcs recruited through Online Vendettas and Ranked Conquests will now be stored in the Garrison, and in-game Mirian can now be used to train, upgrade and customize your personal Orc army.
• Changes to the Shadow Wars: Renamed the Epilogue, the post-campaign has been vastly streamlined to include new narration from Shelob, the Witch-king and Dark Talion. Victory in the Epilogue rewards players with the Masks of the Nazgûl, unlocks powerful new abilities to raise the dead, curse enemies and summons more powerful monsters. And players also have the option to continue upgrading and defending their fortresses and army in Mordor after the final credits conclude.
• More Ways to Customize & Build Your Character: The follower level cap has now been increased to 80 and the enemy Captain level cap has been increased to 85. Plus, players can level up faster with greater XP rewards for Nemesis Missions, defeating Captains and Online Conquests. New Prestige Skills are available and offer incremental upgrades to skills. Players can also spend Mirian to upgrade gear to current levels by completing the upgrade challenge, and these gear upgrades now allow players to re-roll abilities for the perfect combo.
• Nemesis Improvements: There are more Legendary Orcs to encounter, more ways to get Training Orders (incl. Legendary Training Orders) and followers can now surprise players with the occasional gift. And if any followers are too keen to help out and have been stealing kills, there is now the option to turn off the Savior feature in the menu.
• New Player Skins: Players can now take the fight to Sauron as Celebrimbor, reliving the first War for Mordor, or battle as Dark Eltariel and Baranor.