The latest news concerning the awareness campaign focused on Nintendo’s choice of not allowing same – sex relationships to be possible in the virtual life game simulator Tomodachi Life let us know that Nintendo apologized for Tomodachi Life not being fair to the gay community and pledged to be more concerned with the issue in the future. After Tye Marini’s social media campaign gathered more and more followers, all pressuring the game publisher to change its mind and become more inclusive and open towards the gay community, Nintendo Japan released an official statement which gives hope to the Tomodachi Life users. It is worth mentioning that in the past week the social media campaign also gained the support of gay advocacy organizations, such as GLAAD and it seems that Nintendo didn’t have other choice but to respond to its fans and customers in the most diplomatic way possible.

On Friday, the Japanese publisher promised the fans that in the future they will take into account the fans’ request and right to inclusion and come up with a more inclusive and permissive game installment. According to the media, the officials stated that

We are committed to advancing our longtime company values of fun and entertainment for everyone. We pledge that if we create a next installment 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.

In other words, even if they can’t change anything about the English version of the game set to become available this summer, they will be more careful about the sensitive issue of gay rights upon the release of future game patches and installments.

The statement had an immediate echo and the awareness campaign creator, Tye Marini, also released an official statement on Saturday, expressing his happiness and gratitude towards Nintendo’s intentions:

I don’t believe they are a homophobic company at all. I think that the exclusion of same-sex relationships was just an unfortunate oversight.

But now, according to some commentators, Nintento has to practice what it preaches. While in the English – speaking world of game playing there are already LGBT – friendly games and environments, the Japanese publisher needs to live up to the expectations and align its policies to the existing ones.

GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis legitimately noticed that

Nintendo has taken a first step, but if the company’s longtime values are rooted in ‘fun and entertainment for everyone,’ then it needs to catch up to peers like Electronic Arts, which has been inclusive of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) gamers for years.

Now that Nintendo apologized for Tomodachi Life not being fair to the gay community, all we have to do is stay updated to the news and see how Nintendo plays its cards in the future.