Industry controversy: WB Games is able to patent the Nemesis System

Shadow of Mordor, a game set in the wonderful universe created by Tolkien, stood out with its interesting Nemesis System, which is a mechanic related to enemies that even went on to inspire other titles in the industry.

The Nemesis System provides several interesting possibilities and has quickly become a hot topic among players and critics. Ubisoft did something similar in Watch Dogs Legion and Assassin's Creed Odyssey, proving that the system caught the attention of other giants in the market. However, it has been some time since Warner Bros. Games became interested in preventing other companies from using their system, which resulted in an attempt to patent the Nemesis System.

Now, after some time and many discussions on the subject, the story ended with a happy ending for WB and very disappointing for competing developers. After several denials by the USPTO, which is the American body responsible for regulating patents, WG Games finally managed to officially patent the Nemesis System.

The developer met the requirements and was able to guarantee the system's exclusivity until 2035. With that, WB Games is the only one capable of using the Nemesis Characters, Strong Nemesis, Followers and Revenge Mechanism functions in games.

The USPTO issued the statement on Wednesday (03) and the measure will be valid from February 23.

Game releases in February 2021

No Nemesis in other games?

Now, Warner Bros. Games will be able to decide whether to cede the functions of their system to other developers or whether to simply prevent more of this from being seen in the industry. In any case, obviously, the other studios will have to stay away from such functions to prevent any kind of legal problems.

Josh Saywer, director of Obsidian, has already been against the attitude of WB Games. Saywer believes this is not something that can be taken legally. Many players have shown themselves alongside the director, criticizing the company responsible for Shadow of Mordor.