Now that we've released The Lord of the Rings™: Adventure Card Game on consoles and have made changes and improvements to fix the launch issues we encountered on servers, many of you have asked about our release plans for new content. We're here to answer some of those questions.
First, let's review the release schedule since early access launch on August 28th, 2018, and where we've come since then. As you know, we've been active with the game since that early launch, taking your feedback into account to help improve the game and bring it to where it is now. Here's what we've released since then:
August 2018
• Early Access Game Release with The Shadow's Reach Campaign
• The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game Soundtrack Release
November 2018
• The King of Carrion Encounter Release
December 2018
• Vault (New Cards) Release
January 2019
• Cooperative Multiplayer Added
February 2019
• Vault (New Cards) Release
March 2019
• The Shadow's Fall Campaign (including 5 all-new Quests, 4 new Heroes and new cards) Release; re-balance of The Shadow's Reach
April 2019
• Emotes System and Ping Feature Added
• Save Games for Single and Multiplayer Added
• A Feast for Trolls Encounter Release
May 2019
• Fully Revamped First Time User Experience Release
• All-new Tutorial Campaign Release with 1 new full Quest
• Card Rewards for Quests and Hero Challenges Added
• New Avatar Rewards and Hero Alt Art Added
• All-new Balancing System for Different Play Modes Added
• Second Multiplayer Play Style (Narrative) Added
July 2019
• Gundabad Awoken Encounter Release
August 2019
• Full Release on Steam (end of Early Access)
November 2019
• Release on Xbox One, PlayStation4 and Switch platforms
• Overhaul of Server System to improve stability
What's Next
We had hoped to be able to talk about new content prior to this date, but our focus has been on releasing the console versions first, then gathering feedback from that launch to determine our future path.
So, while we're not yet ready to talk about release dates, we did want to give you some insight into what's on our immediate horizon.
First up is Campaign 3: The Witch-king's Grasp, an all-new Campaign set in a location not yet explored within the game—Eriador. This is our biggest Campaign yet, with new Minions, Villains, Objectives, Hazards, and Locations. With the new Campaign, you'll also receive 4 new Heroes with which to build decks. Each new Hero comes with 4 brand new cards that we've talked about in past updates. In this Campaign,
The Witch-king's Grasp features 27 brand new Locations for your fellowship to visit. You'll see famous locales from The Lord of the Rings as well as new locations as you uncover a dark plot that stirs the dark hearts of evil men who dwell in the Shadows of Eriador.
We will also introduce new mechanics to the game that will force players to rethink some of their deck setups to overcome the difficulties they face. There are 5 new Quest Reward cards, 10 new avatars, and 4 new Hero Challenge cards for you to earn along the way.
The best part is that we're giving this Campaign to everyone for free! We'll discuss details when we make the release date announcement.
Plus, we're ready to unleash an all-new game mode: The Mirror of Galadriel mode. Gaze into Galadriel's Mirror to see fates that may or may not come to pass. This new mode challenges players to a single randomly-generated Encounter where you can play alone or with a friend against a random setup of Minions and Villains drawn from across all our releases.
This is a fast-play mode consisting of a single Location, where players must first defeat a wave of Minions before confronting a final Villain. Each time you play, you'll be confronted with a different challenge, making the mode highly replayable. We can also expand this mode by adding new content with each new release we make. We hope you enjoy this brand new way to play—as you never know quite what you'll face in the mirror’s reflection.
The Mirror of Galadriel mode will also be free to all players and will be available as part of the Campaign 3 release. So, you'll not only get an entirely new narrative experience, at the same time you'll also get a robust new random mode.
Reminder
One final note. We've mentioned this previously, but it bears repeating: while we will update news less frequently than previously, we are still working away feverishly on the game behind the scenes! Now that we have 5 platforms to support, we intend to slow our update pace in general on Steam. Of course, we will make new announcements when we have something we want to share.
Additionally, we'll still monitor and participate in forums and will still be part of the Discord channel where we'll answer questions and discuss the game.
Thank you all for your support of the game thus far and for our development efforts to bring Middle-earth to life. We hope you'll enjoy the new content we have planned and that the rest of 2019 is a very Merry one for you all.
Until the stars shine over our next meeting…
—FFI and Asmodee Digital