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Shadow of War developer who passed away immortalized in-game

Shadow of War executive producer Michael Forgey, who passed away last year after struggling with cancer, has been immortalized in-game by friends and colleagues at Monolith.

Chris Kerr, News Editor

September 1, 2017

1 Min Read
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Middle-earth: Shadow of War executive producer Michael Forgey, who passed away last year after struggling with cancer, has been immortalized in-game by friends and colleagues at Monolith. 

Forgey appears in the game as "Forthog Orc-Slayer," a downloadable character that will sometimes save the player when they're about to be struck down by an enemy. 

The trailer above shows Forthog in action, and actually features music written and performed by Forgey, who was an avid musician. 

"Mike 'Forthog' Forgey was our executive producer and great friend here at Monolith. He was always ready to leap into the fray and save the game whenever and wherever he was most needed," wrote the Monolith team. 

"We lost Mike to cancer during the development of Shadow of War, and we want to remember and honor him with a little bit of immortality in Mordor. The legendary Forthog Orc-Slayer is our way to continue having Mike leap into battle and save us when we’re down."

Publisher WB Games will be donating $3.50 from every sale of the Forthog Orc-Slayer DLC made before December 31, 2019, to the Forgey family. You can pre-purchase it on Steam or Xbox One right now for $4.99.

About the Author

Chris Kerr

News Editor, GameDeveloper.com

Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.

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