Last night, Warner Bros shocked the industry when it was announced the closure of three studios, including Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor’s Monolith Productions. Founded in the 1990s and part of Warner Bros since 2004, the studio was best known for Shadow of Mordor and its follow-up Shadow of War, which both used the studio’s patented Nemesis system.
The Nemesis system, for those unfamiliar, is a clever in-game mechanic which tracks a player’s actions to create enemies that feel capable of remembering past encounters. In the studio’s Middle-earth games, this allowed foes to rise through the ranks and enact revenge.
The Nemesis system was set to be utilised again in Monolith’s Wonder Woman game, though that project has now been cancelled alongside the studio’s sudden closure – leaving the Nemesis system seemingly now lying unused, and protected by Warner Bros due to its successful patent application.
The patent itself – which you can view here – was originally filed back in 2016, before it was granted in 2021. It is dubbed “Nemesis characters, nemesis forts, social vendettas and followers in computer games”. As it stands, the patent has an expiration date of 11th August, 2036.
So, even though Monolith is getting shut down, Warner Bros will be able to retain the patent for the Nemesis system for another 11 years, should it keep up the patent’s associated fees.
Many are upset that this may well mean the death of the Nemesis system. “They really patented the Nemesis System only to do absolutely nothing with it,” wrote one social media user. “RIP the Nemesis system, I guess,” added video game journalist Cade Onder.
“Monolith literally created a one-of-a-kind system that procedurally generated a complete hierarchy of unique enemies that interacted with the player and itself in the Nemesis System,” another wrote. “WB took that from them, patented it, and then closed their studio. Fuck them.”
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Needless to say, the news of Monolith’s closure last night, along with the closure of Player First Games and Warner Bros Games San Diego, has been met with sadness across the industry.
Comic book writer Gail Simone, who was serving as a consultant on Monolith’s Wonder Woman title, said the game was both “gorgeous and expansive”.
“It was beautiful to look at. I am not going to give details for a number of reasons, but every effort was made to make this not just a great game, but a great WONDER WOMAN game,” Simone wrote on social media, calling the project a “showpiece epic”. The consultant added the team wanted to “make the best game ever”, however “sometimes, you give your all and it doesn’t work out”.
God of War Ragnarök composer Bear McCreary labelled the recent studio closures a “tragic waste”, while Remedy’s communications director Thomas Puha wrote: “Sigh. Monolith being shut down. Another historic studio gone. Best of luck to all who have been impacted.”
The cancellation of Wonder Woman comes amid an extremely rocky period for Warner Bros’ games division, with Warner Bros Montreal’s Gotham Knights, Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, IP-heavy party brawler MultiVersus, and last year’s Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions all failing to make an impact with consumers.
Last month, Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad announced he was stepping down after 12 years in the role.
