2020 has been an incredible year in the world of mods, but one for an aging game managed to reign supreme in the eyes of fans around the world. This year's installment of ModDB's Players Choice Mod of the Year Award went to Age of the Ring – a massive upgrade to Battle for Middle-earth 2: Rise of the Witch King.
Battle for Middle-earth 2: Rise of the Witch King released nearly 15 years ago in 2006. The RTS game was an instant hit with Lord of the Rings fans, and modders have continued to support the cult classic over a decade after its release. Age of the Ring is far and away the most popular, although it didn't come about until 2017. Right now it's sitting at an average rating of 9.6, with nearly everyone praising it as a high quality mod that brings new life to the old game.
"New factions, new heroes, new maps, new spells, a brand-new campaign and expanded War of the Ring," reads its description on ModDB. "Our goal is to create an RTS experience that is faithful to the spirit of Tolkien's mythos, with diverse, engaging, and balanced gameplay." After winning Players Choice Mod of the Year Award in 2020, no doubt the team has achieved that goal.
Age of the Ring also managed to land an Editors Choice Award for Best Continued Support.
Here's the full rankings of Players Choice Awards (starting with first place):
- Age of the Ring (Battle for Middle-earth 2: Rise of the Witch King)
- Mental Omega (C&C: Yuri's Revenge)
- Project Reality (Battlefield 2)
- Divide and Conquer (Medieval 2: Total War: Kingdoms)
- Black Mesa: Azure Sheep (Black Mesa)
- Expanding Fronts (Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds)
- Unification Mod - Dawn of War: SoulStorm (Dawn of War)
- Total War: Rise of Mordor (Total War: Attila)
- Arcane Dimensions (Quake)
- Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar Redux (Half-Life 2: Episode 2)
For more details on all the award winners, check out the full results on ModDB. Other notable Editors Choice Awards went to Perisno, X-Ray Multiplayer Extension, and Crysis Enhanced Edition.