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Christian Allen Thinks War in the North Never Got a Fair Shot Against Skyrim

The former WB Games design director said the 2011 action RPG was overshadowed by Skyrim, while Aspyr's Legacy Edition is now available on five platforms.

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A bearded staff-wielding character stands among forested ruins in The Lord of the Rings: War in the North.

Christian Allen, a former design director at WB Games, believes The Lord of the Rings: War in the North never received a fair chance when it launched alongside The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim in 2011.

Allen had spent 24 years in the games industry and was part of WB Games’ studio leadership when War in the North originally arrived. His responsibilities included handling pitches and releases tied to licensed properties. He did not work on the action RPG directly, but he said he argued against releasing it so close to Bethesda’s massive role-playing game.

“15 years ago I argued vociferously not to release this up against Skyrim, as it wouldn’t get a fair shake,” Allen wrote in an X post. “I got overruled. Nice to see it get a proper release.”

War in the North launched just 15 days before Skyrim, putting Snowblind Studios’ cooperative action RPG in the shadow of one of the year’s biggest releases. Allen said the game was repeatedly judged against Skyrim or ignored in favor of it, rather than being assessed on its own terms.

He credited the Snowblind team for the game’s work and noted that the studio later merged with Monolith Productions in 2012. Allen also recalled that War in the North received roughly one review during its launch week and had very little marketing. In his view, the release timing and limited promotion made it even harder for the game to find an audience.

The Legacy Edition gives War in the North another chance

Aspyr’s rerelease, The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – Legacy Edition, arrived on August 11, 2026, and is now available across five platforms. The Legacy Edition is now available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, and PC for $19.99.

The new version adds several features aimed at current hardware. It supports 60 frames per second except on the original Switch, introduces enemy lock-on, adds autosaves and extra save slots, and improves the AI with visible health, mana, and EXP bars.

Its story follows several heroes fighting Sauron’s forces alongside the events surrounding the Fellowship.

Aspyr handled development and publishing for the Legacy Edition under license from Warner Bros. The publisher has also teased more classic Lord of the Rings releases, though it has not announced which game will come next or when it will arrive.

A launch trailer accompanied the Legacy Edition’s release.

Do you think War in the North would have been remembered differently with a better release window? Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow along on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram, Steam, and Telegram.

The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is a co-op Action RPG that immerses you and your friends in a brutal new chapter in the War of the Ring. Snowblind Studios is in the unique position of drawing inspiration from both the literary and film rights to world of Middle-earth, allowing players to bloody their axes on a wide range of deadly enemies and traverse both established and never-before-seen locations. The result is a journey that is both epic and intimate, familiar yet unexpected.