When it first released, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, the 2014 action game that can best be described as an orc murder simulator, got a lot of attention for its unique gameplay system that pitted orc against orc. Critics heaped praise on the title, and it appears to have sold fairly well.
It's not exactly surprising, then, that a sequel would be in the works. While nothing official has been announced, the resume of a stunt actress that includes a mention of Shadow of Mordor 2 may be all the confirmation fans need that a new entry is on the way.
Stunt actress Lauren Mary Kim has done motion-capture stunt work for a number of games over the years, including Bioshock Infinite, Mortal Kombat and more. On her IMDB resume, her latest project (via Nerdleaks) is listed as Shadow of Mordor 2 for a company known as Blur.
The Blur in question most likely refers to Blur Studios, a company well-known for special effects and video game cinematics. Their work has been used in games like Batman: Arkham Origins, the upcoming Halo Wars 2 and can even be seen in Marvel's recent Deadpool film.
Shadow of Mordor 2 has since been removed from Kim's resume, which may be an even better indication that this is the real deal. If she has done work for Blur on Shadow of Mordor 2, it seems safe to assume that Blur is working on a cinematic trailer for the game, one that could possibly be revealed at E3 this summer.
The timing sounds about right. Shadow of Mordor released in September 2014, which would put the announcement of the sequel close to two years later. The game received a Game of the Year edition in May 2015 that included all of its post-launch DLC. There is also the original game's ending to consider. We won't spoil it here, but it definitely leaves the door open for another entry in the franchise.
If the sequel is formally announced at E3 this year, a 2017 release date seems likely. We'll let you know more details as they become available.
