Is Middle Earth: Shadow of War 'Friend or Foe' a Cash Grab?

What counts as a cash grab?

Commercial extraction prioritized over meaningful consumer or creative value. Profit, popularity, adaptations, sequels, remakes, high budgets, and normal marketing do not count by themselves.

Why?

Middle Earth: Shadow of War "Friend or Foe" is an 8 minute live action promotional short released September 18, 2017 that functions as an interactive trailer for the 2017 video game Middle-earth: Shadow of War. I found no evidence the short was sold or released as a paid theatrical product, it appears on official channels as marketing material. However the associated 2017 game launched with purchasable War Chests, Gold, and a Market which drew heavy criticism and were later removed by the developer in 2018.

The title is an 8 minute official live action trailer/promotional short, not a paid theatrical film.
The game Middle-earth: Shadow of War shipped with purchasable War Chests, in-game Gold purchases, and loot-box style microtransactions.
Microtransactions and the in-game Market were widely criticized and were permanently removed in a July 17, 2018 update.

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I found no press or storefront evidence that the short itself was monetized or sold as a consumer product.

Score factors

Direction	Factor	Evidence	Impact
For	Game shipped with loot boxes and microtransactions	Contemporaneous reporting documents that Middle-earth: Shadow of War launched with a Market selling Gold, War Chests, and loot-box style purchasable content.[2][1]	+23
Against	Developer removed microtransactions after criticism	Monolith and publishers announced and deployed a July 17, 2018 update that permanently removed the Market, Gold purchases, and War Chests from Shadow of War following negative player and press reaction.[4][5]	-9
Against	Official short runtime and distribution	IMDb and the official YouTube upload identify "Friend or Foe" as an 8 minute live-action short released as official marketing for Shadow of War.[6][7]	-8
For	Trailer functions as game marketing	Multiple outlets describe "Friend or Foe" as a live-action interactive trailer produced to promote the Shadow of War game, indicating the short served commercial marketing purposes rather than standing alone as a commercial film.[3][8]	+8
Against	No evidence the short was sold	Searches of press outlets and the official trailer pages show the short was published as free promotional material and not offered as a paid movie or paid download.[3][9]	-6

Confidence: High · Evidence comes from primary marketing pages and contemporaneous reporting by reputable gaming press documenting the trailer's promotional status and the game's microtransaction launch and later removal, while no sources show the short itself was monetized. · Researched 2026-08-09

Sources reviewed

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