A former vice president of Warner Bros Games has revealed the true genesis of Monolith’s beloved Nemesis system.
The Nemesis system, for those unfamiliar, is a clever in-game mechanic which tracks a player’s actions to create enemies that feel capable of remembering past encounters. In the case of Monolith’s Middle-earth games, this allowed foes to rise through the ranks and enact revenge.
But, while being a rather brilliant mechanic for fellow Orc hunters, it was actually created with a slightly more corporate mindset in play, with the idea being to cut down on used game sales.
In a video documenting her time with Monolith, former Warner Bros Games exec Laura Fryer noted a drop off in sales for Rocksteady’s Arkham Asylum release had been attributed to users playing the game, then returning their copy to a retailer, when it would then be sold on as a used copy.