Video game series Harvest Moon could introduce same-sex marriage
The creators of life farm simulator Harvest Moon are ‘looking into’ adding same-sex marriage in a future installation.
The long-running series, which has had 18 installations so far, features marriage as a prominent aspect of gameplay, but as of latest release Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, you can only marry a character of the opposite sex.
The Japanese release of Harvest Moon DS in 2005 allowed people to form same-sex bonds through a ‘Best Friends’ system, but the feature was not included in the English language release.
Natsume Vice President of Operations Graham Markay told Joystiq: “It’s obviously something that we’re going to look into as we continue the Harvest Moon series. We’re going to look into all aspects of it.”
Natsume president Hiro Maekawa added: “We always listen very carefully to fans’ voices,” Maekawa said. “Fan voices, media voices. We know what the fans are looking for. We are always carefully listening to fans’ voices.”
Nintendo came under fire earlier this year for a similar reason, when it said it would not include same-sex relationships in its upcoming simulator game, Tomodachi Life.
“We pledge that if we create a next instalment in the Tomodachi series, we will strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players.”
