The Game Census
Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ cover art

Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™

Monolith Productions · WB Games · 2017-10-09

SteamGOGPlayStation StoreAmazonMicrosoft Store

ActionAdventureRPG

Franchise: The Lord of the Rings · Modes: Single player · Perspectives: Third person

Releases: Oct 10, 2017 (Xbox One), Oct 10, 2017 (PlayStation 4), Oct 10, 2017 (PC (Microsoft Windows))

Experience an epic open-world brought to life by the award-winning Nemesis System. Forge a new Ring of Power, conquer Fortresses in massive battles and dominate Mordor with your personal orc army in Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™.

Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ is an Action, Adventure, and RPG game released in 2017, priced at $49.99, with an owner estimate of 2,000,000 .. 5,000,000 and a Very Positive review sentiment (89% of 117079 reviews).

1,369
playing now
89%
positive of 118k reviews
Very Positive
steam's rating (official)
2,000,000–5,000,000
owners (SteamSpy est.)
15
twitch viewers (latest)
2.1
viewers/channel (concentration)
84/100
critic score (19 outlets, IGDB)
79/100
IGDB user rating (474 ratings)
193
Nexus mods (574k downloads)
4.45★
PlayStation Store rating (40,821 ratings)
36h
to beat · completionist 55h
gold
deck/linux tier (ProtonDB)
Verified
Steam Deck (Valve)
SteamOS: Playable
$49.99
steam price (US)

1,369 players in-game as of 2026-10-14 10:00 UTC (census sample)

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a 2017 action-adventure game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Shadow of War is the sequel to 2014's Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, both of which are based on J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. The game is set in between the events of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings film trilogies, from which the game also takes inspiration. The player continues the story of Talion, the Gondorian Ranger who bonded with the wraith of the Elf Lord Celebrimbor, as they forge a new Ring of Power to amass an army to fight against Sauron. The game builds upon the "nemesis system" introduced in Shadow of Mordor, allowing Talion to gain followers from several races of Middle-earth and command them in warfare.

Trailer

Middle-earth™: Shadow of War™ trailer thumbnail

MIDDLE-EARTH: SHADOW OF WAR Trailer (2017)

≈34,125 YouTube results for this game's trailer search

Health check

Healthy
  • · 1,369 players in-game at the last census sample.
  • · 4,056 reviews in the last 8 weeks (~507/week).
  • · Review velocity down 7% vs the prior 8 weeks.
  • · Top 1% of 27,649 Action games in the census by review count.

Health tier since 2026-08-27

Estimated sales: 2.9M–7.1M copies

Review-multiple estimate from 117,525 total reviews — how this is computed.

Current store prices

GreenManGaming$4.00-92%
GOG$4.99-90%
Humble Store$4.99-90%
Steam$4.99-90%
WinGameStore$4.99-90%
Microsoft Store$4.99-90%
GameBillet$5.00-90%
GOG$49.99

Deal snapshots via CheapShark, refreshed daily.

All-time low: $2.49 at Steam (2024-06-27) · bundled 3×via IsThereAnyDeal

12-month high $49.99 · on sale 118 of 152 observed days · $2.50 above the all-time low (census price snapshots)

Review momentum

PositiveNegative
2.2k2.2k20182026Week of 2018-03-01: 143 positiveWeek of 2018-03-01: 58 negativeWeek of 2018-04-01: 111 positiveWeek of 2018-04-01: 76 negativeWeek of 2018-05-01: 315 positiveWeek of 2018-05-01: 150 negativeWeek of 2018-06-01: 259 positiveWeek of 2018-06-01: 83 negativeWeek of 2018-07-01: 523 positiveWeek of 2018-07-01: 191 negativeWeek of 2018-08-01: 227 positiveWeek of 2018-08-01: 67 negativeWeek of 2018-09-01: 328 positiveWeek of 2018-09-01: 112 negativeWeek of 2018-10-01: 407 positiveWeek of 2018-10-01: 108 negativeWeek of 2018-11-01: 1,268 positiveWeek of 2018-11-01: 94 negativeWeek of 2018-12-01: 439 positiveWeek of 2018-12-01: 122 negativeWeek of 2019-01-01: 484 positiveWeek of 2019-01-01: 129 negativeWeek of 2019-02-01: 225 positiveWeek of 2019-02-01: 53 negativeWeek of 2019-03-01: 253 positiveWeek of 2019-03-01: 80 negativeWeek of 2019-04-01: 133 positiveWeek of 2019-04-01: 32 negativeWeek of 2019-05-01: 169 positiveWeek of 2019-05-01: 51 negativeWeek of 2019-06-01: 695 positiveWeek of 2019-06-01: 49 negativeWeek of 2019-07-01: 772 positiveWeek of 2019-07-01: 54 negativeWeek of 2019-08-01: 158 positiveWeek of 2019-08-01: 43 negativeWeek of 2019-09-01: 131 positiveWeek of 2019-09-01: 33 negativeWeek of 2019-10-01: 227 positiveWeek of 2019-10-01: 19 negativeWeek of 2019-11-01: 2,231 positiveWeek of 2019-11-01: 141 negativeWeek of 2019-12-01: 2,092 positiveWeek of 2019-12-01: 126 negativeWeek of 2020-01-01: 1,324 positiveWeek of 2020-01-01: 114 negativeWeek of 2020-02-01: 809 positiveWeek of 2020-02-01: 71 negativeWeek of 2020-03-01: 901 positiveWeek of 2020-03-01: 62 negativeWeek of 2020-04-01: 1,075 positiveWeek of 2020-04-01: 112 negativeWeek of 2020-05-01: 611 positiveWeek of 2020-05-01: 59 negativeWeek of 2020-06-01: 613 positiveWeek of 2020-06-01: 54 negativeWeek of 2020-07-01: 1,091 positiveWeek of 2020-07-01: 127 negativeWeek of 2020-08-01: 1,492 positiveWeek of 2020-08-01: 167 negativeWeek of 2020-09-01: 1,021 positiveWeek of 2020-09-01: 119 negativeWeek of 2020-10-01: 1,470 positiveWeek of 2020-10-01: 134 negativeWeek of 2020-11-01: 1,296 positiveWeek of 2020-11-01: 127 negativeWeek of 2020-12-01: 1,443 positiveWeek of 2020-12-01: 144 negativeWeek of 2021-01-01: 1,237 positiveWeek of 2021-01-01: 157 negativeWeek of 2021-02-01: 792 positiveWeek of 2021-02-01: 155 negativeWeek of 2021-03-01: 1,733 positiveWeek of 2021-03-01: 205 negativeWeek of 2021-04-01: 682 positiveWeek of 2021-04-01: 78 negativeWeek of 2021-05-01: 1,470 positiveWeek of 2021-05-01: 169 negativeWeek of 2021-06-01: 1,150 positiveWeek of 2021-06-01: 122 negativeWeek of 2021-07-01: 1,632 positiveWeek of 2021-07-01: 191 negativeWeek of 2021-08-01: 1,632 positiveWeek of 2021-08-01: 211 negativeWeek of 2021-09-01: 1,019 positiveWeek of 2021-09-01: 128 negativeWeek of 2021-10-01: 1,306 positiveWeek of 2021-10-01: 146 negativeWeek of 2021-11-01: 1,031 positiveWeek of 2021-11-01: 84 negativeWeek of 2021-12-01: 918 positiveWeek of 2021-12-01: 123 negativeWeek of 2022-01-01: 986 positiveWeek of 2022-01-01: 141 negativeWeek of 2022-02-01: 728 positiveWeek of 2022-02-01: 98 negativeWeek of 2022-03-01: 491 positiveWeek of 2022-03-01: 46 negativeWeek of 2022-04-01: 326 positiveWeek of 2022-04-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2022-05-01: 713 positiveWeek of 2022-05-01: 79 negativeWeek of 2022-06-01: 486 positiveWeek of 2022-06-01: 45 negativeWeek of 2022-07-01: 603 positiveWeek of 2022-07-01: 71 negativeWeek of 2022-08-01: 402 positiveWeek of 2022-08-01: 44 negativeWeek of 2022-09-01: 514 positiveWeek of 2022-09-01: 39 negativeWeek of 2022-10-01: 1,275 positiveWeek of 2022-10-01: 171 negativeWeek of 2022-11-01: 658 positiveWeek of 2022-11-01: 56 negativeWeek of 2022-12-01: 645 positiveWeek of 2022-12-01: 56 negativeWeek of 2023-01-01: 605 positiveWeek of 2023-01-01: 57 negativeWeek of 2023-02-01: 1,239 positiveWeek of 2023-02-01: 124 negativeWeek of 2023-03-01: 681 positiveWeek of 2023-03-01: 76 negativeWeek of 2023-04-01: 445 positiveWeek of 2023-04-01: 57 negativeWeek of 2023-05-01: 1,127 positiveWeek of 2023-05-01: 135 negativeWeek of 2023-06-01: 615 positiveWeek of 2023-06-01: 57 negativeWeek of 2023-07-01: 726 positiveWeek of 2023-07-01: 78 negativeWeek of 2023-08-01: 359 positiveWeek of 2023-08-01: 48 negativeWeek of 2023-09-01: 347 positiveWeek of 2023-09-01: 39 negativeWeek of 2023-10-01: 607 positiveWeek of 2023-10-01: 69 negativeWeek of 2023-11-01: 758 positiveWeek of 2023-11-01: 66 negativeWeek of 2023-12-01: 620 positiveWeek of 2023-12-01: 57 negativeWeek of 2024-01-01: 495 positiveWeek of 2024-01-01: 65 negativeWeek of 2024-02-01: 396 positiveWeek of 2024-02-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2024-03-01: 686 positiveWeek of 2024-03-01: 83 negativeWeek of 2024-04-01: 513 positiveWeek of 2024-04-01: 57 negativeWeek of 2024-05-01: 516 positiveWeek of 2024-05-01: 62 negativeWeek of 2024-06-01: 675 positiveWeek of 2024-06-01: 80 negativeWeek of 2024-07-01: 1,632 positiveWeek of 2024-07-01: 195 negativeWeek of 2024-08-01: 671 positiveWeek of 2024-08-01: 68 negativeWeek of 2024-09-01: 525 positiveWeek of 2024-09-01: 55 negativeWeek of 2024-10-01: 543 positiveWeek of 2024-10-01: 65 negativeWeek of 2024-11-01: 803 positiveWeek of 2024-11-01: 80 negativeWeek of 2024-12-01: 692 positiveWeek of 2024-12-01: 64 negativeWeek of 2025-01-01: 551 positiveWeek of 2025-01-01: 82 negativeWeek of 2025-02-01: 367 positiveWeek of 2025-02-01: 37 negativeWeek of 2025-03-01: 777 positiveWeek of 2025-03-01: 93 negativeWeek of 2025-04-01: 430 positiveWeek of 2025-04-01: 43 negativeWeek of 2025-05-01: 593 positiveWeek of 2025-05-01: 86 negativeWeek of 2025-06-01: 399 positiveWeek of 2025-06-01: 57 negativeWeek of 2025-07-01: 528 positiveWeek of 2025-07-01: 62 negativeWeek of 2025-08-01: 386 positiveWeek of 2025-08-01: 35 negativeWeek of 2025-09-01: 289 positiveWeek of 2025-09-01: 30 negativeWeek of 2025-10-01: 618 positiveWeek of 2025-10-01: 72 negativeWeek of 2025-11-01: 458 positiveWeek of 2025-11-01: 59 negativeWeek of 2025-12-01: 642 positiveWeek of 2025-12-01: 67 negativeWeek of 2026-01-01: 582 positiveWeek of 2026-01-01: 54 negativeWeek of 2026-02-01: 703 positiveWeek of 2026-02-01: 91 negativeWeek of 2026-03-01: 469 positiveWeek of 2026-03-01: 57 negativeWeek of 2026-04-01: 446 positiveWeek of 2026-04-01: 46 negativeWeek of 2026-05-01: 370 positiveWeek of 2026-05-01: 49 negativeWeek of 2026-06-01: 487 positiveWeek of 2026-06-01: 31 negativeWeek of 2026-07-01: 386 positiveWeek of 2026-07-01: 47 negativeWeek of 2026-08-01: 363 positiveWeek of 2026-08-01: 32 negativeWeek of 2026-09-01: 423 positiveWeek of 2026-09-01: 56 negativeWeek of 2026-10-01: 108 positiveWeek of 2026-10-01: 14 negative
Weekly review counts (Steam review histogram). Positive above the line, negative below.

Players online

3.2k1.0k2026-09-15 11:00 — 1,476 players2026-09-16 19:00 — 2,038 players2026-09-18 03:00 — 1,315 players2026-09-19 10:00 — 1,819 players2026-09-20 18:00 — 2,692 players2026-09-22 02:00 — 1,427 players2026-09-23 09:00 — 1,097 players2026-09-24 17:00 — 2,029 players2026-09-26 00:00 — 1,565 players2026-09-27 08:00 — 1,599 players2026-09-28 15:00 — 2,154 players2026-09-29 23:00 — 1,587 players2026-10-01 06:00 — 1,020 players2026-10-02 14:00 — 1,927 players2026-10-03 21:00 — 2,636 players2026-10-05 05:00 — 1,436 players2026-10-06 13:00 — 1,940 players2026-10-07 20:00 — 2,262 players2026-10-09 04:00 — 1,397 players2026-10-10 11:00 — 2,326 players2026-10-11 19:00 — 3,187 players2026-10-13 03:00 — 1,675 players2026-10-14 10:00 — 1,369 players
Concurrent players, hourly average, last 30 days (census samples).
20k10Mar 2017Aug 2026Mar 2017 — avg 10 · peak 47Jun 2017 — avg 42 · peak 109Sep 2017 — avg 30 · peak 59Dec 2017 — avg 4,910 · peak 10,908Mar 2018 — avg 1,540 · peak 3,171Jun 2018 — avg 2,208 · peak 5,207Sep 2018 — avg 2,806 · peak 11,514Dec 2018 — avg 3,729 · peak 9,735Mar 2019 — avg 2,336 · peak 6,357Jun 2019 — avg 1,737 · peak 3,525Sep 2019 — avg 1,559 · peak 3,325Dec 2019 — avg 3,466 · peak 7,041Mar 2020 — avg 2,211 · peak 7,212Jun 2020 — avg 1,623 · peak 4,422Sep 2020 — avg 2,707 · peak 10,816Dec 2020 — avg 3,023 · peak 5,741Mar 2021 — avg 3,699 · peak 12,605Jun 2021 — avg 2,638 · peak 6,158Sep 2021 — avg 2,742 · peak 5,492Dec 2021 — avg 2,471 · peak 4,464Mar 2022 — avg 1,512 · peak 2,627Jun 2022 — avg 1,632 · peak 3,021Sep 2022 — avg 2,533 · peak 5,240Dec 2022 — avg 2,047 · peak 3,205Mar 2023 — avg 2,246 · peak 4,027Jun 2023 — avg 2,179 · peak 4,129Sep 2023 — avg 1,202 · peak 2,129Dec 2023 — avg 2,014 · peak 3,331Mar 2024 — avg 2,109 · peak 4,445Jun 2024 — avg 2,290 · peak 7,581Sep 2024 — avg 2,087 · peak 3,673Dec 2024 — avg 2,246 · peak 3,798Mar 2025 — avg 2,649 · peak 4,687Jun 2025 — avg 1,610 · peak 2,825Sep 2025 — avg 1,577 · peak 2,795Dec 2025 — avg 2,413 · peak 3,915Mar 2026 — avg 1,932 · peak 3,611Jun 2026 — avg 1,804 · peak 3,183Aug 2026 — avg 1,561 · peak 3,605
Monthly average players (source: steamcharts.com) — history via steamcharts.com; live census sampling since Aug 2026.

Chart history

PositiveNegative
50502026-09-212026-10-142026-09-21: 48 new positive2026-09-21: 1 new negative2026-09-23: 15 new positive2026-09-23: 8 new negative2026-09-25: 11 new positive2026-09-25: 1 new negative2026-09-27: 15 new positive2026-09-27: 3 new negative2026-09-29: 19 new positive2026-09-30: 11 new positive2026-09-30: 3 new negative2026-10-01: 14 new positive2026-10-01: 2 new negative2026-10-02: 12 new positive2026-10-02: 2 new negative2026-10-03: 15 new positive2026-10-04: 50 new positive2026-10-04: 4 new negative2026-10-05: 12 new positive2026-10-05: 4 new negative2026-10-08: 23 new positive2026-10-08: 2 new negative2026-10-09: 14 new positive2026-10-09: 4 new negative2026-10-10: 18 new positive2026-10-10: 1 new negative2026-10-11: 10 new positive2026-10-11: 2 new negative2026-10-12: 16 new positive2026-10-13: 12 new positive2026-10-14: 17 new positive2026-10-14: 2 new negative
New Steam reviews per day (census review snapshots). Positive above the line, negative below.

Price history

$60.56$2.992017-02-272026-10-142017-02-27 — best price $59.992017-10-28 — best price $55.432018-02-16 — best price $59.992018-05-09 — best price $59.992018-07-27 — best price $50.382018-09-26 — best price $41.992018-12-03 — best price $59.992019-01-18 — best price $20.002019-03-16 — best price $41.992019-04-21 — best price $16.492019-06-01 — best price $30.992019-08-25 — best price $49.992019-11-23 — best price $12.502020-01-25 — best price $37.482020-04-08 — best price $14.992020-07-21 — best price $12.492020-11-15 — best price $49.992021-03-03 — best price $8.842021-06-03 — best price $49.992021-10-04 — best price $49.992022-01-05 — best price $49.992022-05-12 — best price $7.492022-09-14 — best price $53.932023-01-03 — best price $5.992023-04-28 — best price $6.552023-08-29 — best price $39.882024-01-04 — best price $40.992024-04-04 — best price $49.992024-08-10 — best price $49.992024-12-13 — best price $4.492025-03-29 — best price $49.992025-08-08 — best price $49.992025-12-03 — best price $32.992026-04-05 — best price $32.992026-07-30 — best price $49.992026-09-15 — best price $4.002026-10-14 — best price $4.99
Lowest recorded price across tracked stores, per day (census snapshots).

Attention

1.2k3762026-05-28 — 527 pageviews2026-06-01 — 546 pageviews2026-06-05 — 553 pageviews2026-06-09 — 620 pageviews2026-06-13 — 435 pageviews2026-06-17 — 376 pageviews2026-06-21 — 745 pageviews2026-06-25 — 451 pageviews2026-06-29 — 484 pageviews2026-07-03 — 436 pageviews2026-07-07 — 423 pageviews2026-07-11 — 471 pageviews2026-07-15 — 482 pageviews2026-07-19 — 486 pageviews2026-07-23 — 446 pageviews2026-07-27 — 571 pageviews2026-07-31 — 413 pageviews2026-08-04 — 455 pageviews2026-08-08 — 477 pageviews2026-08-12 — 884 pageviews2026-08-16 — 663 pageviews2026-08-20 — 481 pageviews2026-08-24 — 533 pageviews2026-08-28 — 635 pageviews2026-09-01 — 546 pageviews2026-09-05 — 494 pageviews2026-09-09 — 422 pageviews2026-09-13 — 549 pageviews2026-09-17 — 432 pageviews2026-09-21 — 452 pageviews2026-09-25 — 597 pageviews2026-09-29 — 576 pageviews2026-10-03 — 739 pageviews2026-10-07 — 507 pageviews
Daily Wikipedia pageviews (attention proxy, census-recorded).

Twitch viewers

88602026-09-30 21:34 — 31 viewers2026-10-01 06:34 — 8 viewers2026-10-01 15:34 — 20 viewers2026-10-02 00:34 — 13 viewers2026-10-02 09:34 — 26 viewers2026-10-02 18:34 — 12 viewers2026-10-03 03:34 — 9 viewers2026-10-03 12:34 — 25 viewers2026-10-03 21:34 — 21 viewers2026-10-04 06:34 — 5 viewers2026-10-04 15:34 — 34 viewers2026-10-05 00:34 — 8 viewers2026-10-05 09:34 — 28 viewers2026-10-05 18:34 — 12 viewers2026-10-06 03:34 — 5 viewers2026-10-06 12:34 — 21 viewers2026-10-06 21:34 — 22 viewers2026-10-07 06:34 — 4 viewers2026-10-07 15:34 — 18 viewers2026-10-08 00:34 — 15 viewers2026-10-08 09:34 — 7 viewers2026-10-08 18:34 — 11 viewers2026-10-09 03:34 — 9 viewers2026-10-09 12:34 — 9 viewers2026-10-09 21:34 — 16 viewers2026-10-10 06:34 — 22 viewers2026-10-10 15:34 — 21 viewers2026-10-11 00:34 — 19 viewers2026-10-11 09:34 — 9 viewers2026-10-11 18:34 — 39 viewers2026-10-12 03:34 — 2 viewers2026-10-12 12:34 — 9 viewers2026-10-12 21:34 — 35 viewers2026-10-13 06:34 — 9 viewers2026-10-13 15:34 — 10 viewers2026-10-14 00:34 — 24 viewers2026-10-14 09:34 — 7 viewers2026-10-14 18:34 — 24 viewers2026-10-14 20:34 — 15 viewers
Hourly Twitch viewers (census snapshots).

Completion

60+
achievements tracked
72.3%
earned "Better Luck Next Time"
25.8%
median achievement earned by

Global achievement rates from Steam.

Details

WindowsFull controller supportSingle-playerSteam AchievementsFull controller supportSteam Trading CardsIn-App PurchasesSteam CloudFamily Sharing8 DLC

12 supported languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Arabic, Korean, Simplified Chinese

Post-launch support: 8 DLC released, first 2017-10-09, latest 2018-05-08 (Steam store data)

Where its players are

Share of Steam reviews by language (top languages measured) — a proxy for where the player base lives.

Player tags

RPGWarGoreActionFantasyStealthViolentMedievalAdventureAction RPG

Census log

Computed from census-recorded observations only — dates are observation dates.

Recent updates

Players also track

Aarklash: LegacyMiddle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — RemasteredZigguratChildren of MortaBorderlands 3Hello NeighborLEGRAND LEGACY: Tale of the Fatebounds

Similarity via IGDB.

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