Two much awaited games planned for 2014 have had their release dates changed and it comes as a bit of a surprise.

First off, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, the assassinscreed-esque (that’s a word now) game from WB Studios set in the Lord of the Rings world, will be released earlier than planned! The game was scheduled to be out on October 7, but WB has decided to move it up one week, to September 30th. This unlikely move is probably due to the release of heavy hitters in October, namely  EA’s Dragon Age: Inquisition and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Unity. That extra week of play time might up the sales!

Secondly, in an even more surprising move, EA has decided to push back the release date of the (not)highly anticipated Battlefield: Hardline to early 2015. Previously stated for October 21st, the move comes as a surprise considering EA’s history of pushing the release of “finished” products, whether or not it is ready. It seems they really did learn a lesson with the debacle that was Battlefield’s 4 opening day/week/month/year.

We’ll keep you updated as soon as a release date is set!