Nintendo has revealed two critical pieces of information related to the next instalment in the Fire Emblem series, Fire Emblem Fates. Nintendo stated to Polygon “We can confirm that Fire Emblem Fates for Nintendo 3DS, which launches in Japan on June 25, 2015, and is coming to the U.S. and Europe in 2016, includes the possibility for a same-sex marriage to take place between the main character created by the gamer and another character in the game,”.
The reason for its inclusion? Nintendo stated “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 next piece of information is that the game will have multiple versions. Nintendo revealed that “In the U.S., Conquest and Birthright will both be sold separately, as is already the case in Japan. For those who have purchased either the Conquest or Birthright edition, a third edition will be made available as downloadable content at a later stage. Details on how the three storylines will be made available in other regions will be announced at a later date.”
Unfortunately there is a bit of a catch for the same-sex marriages. Nintendo said that “In the Conquest edition of the game, there is a male character that the game’s player may have his/her male main character marry after they bond in battle. Similarly, the Birthright edition features a female character that a female main character may marry after bonding in battle. Both of the aforementioned characters can be encountered in the third edition of the game.”.
So it all sounds great right? Same-sex marriages have been requested for quite a while in Nintendo games. Tomodachi Life had fans who even made a petition and a sort-of movement to get Nintendo to include same-sex marriages. While same-sex marriages in Fire Emblem Fates won’t produce children and is also only applicable to a particular version of the game, at least we’re seeing some more diversity happening.