Back in 2014, Monolith Productions impressed us all with Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and its central game mechanic – the Nemesis System. The technology allowed for dynamic NPCs that would hunt the player character down and level up if it managed to beat you, adding an interesting twist to gameplay that could be used to improve hundreds of other games. Unfortunately, WB Games patented the technology and as a result, developers aren't able to produce a similar system for at least another decade. 

Warner Bros filed the patent for the Nemesis System back in 2016, one year ahead of the release of Middle-Earth: Shadow of War. As the patent was approved, that means Warner Bros has exclusive rights to use this technology for 20 years after the filing date. The patent will not expire until August 11th 2036.

The situation goes a little beyond that though. This week, Warner Bros made the decision to shut down Monolith Productions and cancel the studio's upcoming Wonder Woman game, the only other title in production to make use of this technology. With the studio shutting down and the developers behind the system being forced to find work elsewhere, it is unlikely that even WB will make use of this patent again anytime soon.

Warner Bros could potentially license out the patent, but most publishers don't exactly like giving out a piece of their pie to a third-party. A good example of this is NetEase with Marvel Rivals, as we recently learned that the game was almost scrapped due to the company's CEO not wanting to give Disney their licensing fee.

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KitGuru Says: This is a good example of the patent system being used for the wrong reasons. Rather than locking down an innovative technology and making good use of it, WB has squandered its opportunity and taken something cool away from the gaming community, much like Namco did back in the 90s with its patent on ‘playable mini games during loading screens'. 

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