Vdeo game company Nintendo is allowing users to choose to be in a same-sex marriage in its latest role playing game series "Fire Emblem." This upgrade follows criticism from the LGBT community for not including relationships between two males or two females.
The company released a statement confirming the news. The main character which is personally chosen by the player can marry another character of the same sex. 'Fire Emblem Fates' will be launched in Japan in June 2015 and then released in the U.S. and Europe next year.
The earlier version 'Fire Emblem Awakening' which was released in 2012 allows characters of the opposite sex to marry. It can even produce children upon reaching S-rank. In the latest game version, characters who develop a strong link will gain an A+ ranking.
As explained by the company, the same-sex relationship works in two editions of the game, the Conquest and Birthright, which will both be sold separately. Players can then obtain the third edition by downloading the content.
The Conquest edition allows male-to-male relationships while the Birthright edition gives access to female-to-female relationships. Characters can get married after they bond in battle.
In the life simulation game 'Tomodachi life', there is no same-sex relationship feature. During the time, the game's design was criticized by gamers who support gay and lesbian relationships.
Nintendo gave its reason for including the aforementioned feature in the new game they developed.
"We believe that our gameplay experiences should reflect the diversity of the communities in which we operate and, at the same time, we will always design the game specifications of each title by considering a variety of factors, such as the game's scenario and the nature of the game play," the company said.
"In the end of course, the game should be fun to play. We feel that Fire Emblem Fates is indeed enjoyable to play and we hope fans like the game," Nintendo added.
