Fans of Middle-earth got a lovely surprise this week when The Lord of the Rings: War in the North was suddenly available again thanks to publisher Aspyr. A bit of a hidden gem among video games based on JRR Tolkien’s work, one of the devs overseeing the original game is glad it’s getting another shot after living in The Elder Scrolls’ shadow when it launched.
Christian Allen, design director for WB Games during War in the North’s development, commented on social media about the circumstances surrounding the action-RPG’s release. “Wow, this is cool,” he says, sharing the game’s trailer. “15 years ago I argued vociferously not to release this up against Skyrim, as it wouldn’t get a fair shake. I got overruled.”
When you look at the release schedules, it’s plain to see he had a point. War in the North arrived November 1, 2011, in the US, while Skyrim followed on November 11. There are a lot of The Lord of the Rings fans in the world, but it would’ve been hard for anything to compete against the sequel to Oblivion – especially since this one had dragons.
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Wow, this is cool. 15 years ago I argued vociferously not to release this up against Skyrim, as it wouldn’t get a fair shake. I got overruled.Nice to see it get a proper release. https://t.co/lcl2Dm7decAugust 12, 2026
Sure enough, War in the North became an immediate casualty of Bethesda’s vacuum, and pretty much died on the vine at launch. Middling reviews didn’t help, pushing it further into relative obscurity.
In the replies, Allen clarifies that he was only part of the leadership team, since his role included managing IP-related pitches and releases, and that all actual credit for the game goes to the devs at Snowblind Studios. This would be their last release before becoming part of Monolith Productions in 2012.
Jump forward a decade-and-a-half, and people can give War in the North a fairer shake. Oblivion Remastered came out last year, as did Clair Obscur, and Baldur’s Gate 3 was three years ago. The field is clear of major rivals, letting anyone who fancies the quest therein, where a number of heroes help in the battle against Sauron parallel to the Fellowship, enjoy it at their leisure.
Aspyr’s teased more releases from the franchise’s history are coming too. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – The Third Age is overdue a re-evaluation. But for now, War in the North has earned its time.