The action game “Lord of the Rings: War in the North”, released the same week as “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” in November 2011, was destined to fail, but Warner Bros. refused to delay the release, citing quarterly results and management bonuses.
Former game director Christian Allen said on social media that the development team tried to convince management to avoid direct competition with Bethesda’s hit, but failed. As a result, Snowblind Studios’ project fizzled out amid the hype surrounding Skyrim, received few reviews, and lost proper marketing support, which led to commercial failure and the studio’s subsequent merger with Monolith Productions.
The case is another reminder to the gaming community that corporate financial planning and stock market pressures can derail the fate of promising video games.