Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War Land on Switch 2 Sept 30, Aspyr Bundle at $34.99
You spend a hundred hours making an orc captain fear your name, and for over a decade that story only existed on PlayStation, Xbox and PC. That changes on September 30, when Aspyr launches Middle-earth: Shadow Bundle on Switch 2, pairing Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition with Middle-earth: Shadow of War Definitive Edition. Aspyr has announced Middle-earth: Shadow Bundle for Switch 2, which includes Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Game of the Year Edition and Middle-earth: Shadow of War Definitive Edition, and it will launch on September 30. As Kotaku noted, this marks the first time either game has been on a Nintendo system, and a port like this has been something fans have been asking about for years.
The announcement landed fast, and so did the doubts. Here’s how the LOTR crowd reacted online once the eShop listing went live:
Nintendo of America [Twitter/X Mirror]@nintendoamericax.bsky.socialPre-order Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War to receive 50% off before the game launches on Sept 30: ninten.do/6017a5CNS
Bundle Price Is $34.99, Solo Prices Are $9.99 and $24.99
Three ways to buy, one discount clock. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor is launching as the Game of the Year Edition priced at $19.99 with a pre-order discount bringing it down to $9.99, while Middle-earth: Shadow of War launches as the Definitive Edition priced at $49.99 with a pre-order discount bringing it to $24.99. Buy them together and the bundle can be pre-ordered digitally for $34.99, a 50% discount off the base price of $69.99 that will go into effect at launch.
Do the math and the bundle isn’t actually cheaper than buying both games separately during the same pre-order window. It’s the same $34.99 either way. Our take: that’s a reasonable price for two decade-old open-world games with all their DLC baked in, but it’s not the deal Aspyr’s marketing makes it sound like.
Every Piece of DLC Is Already Included
Neither Switch 2 edition strips content out. Middle-earth: Shadow of War Definitive Edition features season pass content, specifically the Guardians of the Flaming Eye Warband Mission, Lord of the Hunt Story Mission, The Bright Lord Story Mission, and additional Warband Missions, Runes, and Skins, while Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Definitive Edition contains the Desolation of Mordor and Blade of Galadriel Story Expansions, Slaughter Tribe and Outlaw Tribe Nemesis Expansions, and Sword of Dominion bonus weapon. Shadow of War is the heavier install by far. Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a 73GB download and it has touchscreen support.
Shadow of War Trades Its Online Modes for Offline Play
There’s a catch buried in the fine print. The Switch 2 edition is optimized for offline play, so Online Conquests, Vendettas, Fight Pits, Chests, and Training Orders are unavailable, though the Garrison is fully playable offline and lets you reassign un-deployed Orc followers across regions. That’s a meaningful cut for anyone who sank time into Shadow of War’s Fortress sieges and online rivals back in 2017, even if solo players won’t miss much.
Monolith Is Gone, but Aspyr Keeps Mining Its Catalogue
There’s no chance of a fresh Nemesis game riding this wave. Both games were originally developed by Monolith Productions, the studio Warner Bros. shut down in February 2025, and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, with the story set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. This is Aspyr filling out its Tolkien back catalogue rather than anyone building something new. These are the latest Lord of the Rings titles released by Aspyr, following the launch of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – Legacy Edition last month.
Aspyr’s Own Port History Is Doing the Convincing Here
Readers reacting to Nintendo Life’s coverage weren’t shy about their reservations, pointing to Aspyr’s uneven history with older-game ports and saying they’d wait for footage before buying in. That wariness isn’t new. Aspyr has shipped strong remasters before and also shipped rough ones, so a wait-and-see approach from longtime fans tracks.
We’d lean the same way. Shadow of Mordor’s Nemesis System earned its reputation the hard way, and a bad frame-rate on Switch 2 would sting more than most ports because so much of the combat depends on split-second reads. The 50% discount runs only until September 30, when both solo prices and the bundle jump back to full rate.
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