By Alex Calvin, Friday, January 22, 2021 19:26 GMT
Adjustments were made to prevent the game’s audience from facing more criticism, apparently.
Mass Effect 2Jack’s was originally intended to be pansexual, but BioWare cut off non-heterosexual romances due to concerns about negative media coverage.
Speaking to The Gamer, Mass Effect 2 writer Brian Kindregan said the decision to allow Jack to be romantic only if users were playing as male Commander Shephard came later in development. This followed a Fox News report in 2007, debating the representation of sex in science fiction RPG.
The fact that Jack was initially planned to be pansexual will undoubtedly make a lot of sense for Mass Effect 2 fans. The character makes references to romantic encounters with non-male partners, but it is only a romance option if you are playing as a Shephard. male. The decision to cut off non-heterosexual relationships came, in part, because BioWare did not want its community to be criticized. Part of the criticism that Mass Effect faced was the technically gay relationship that was possible with Liara.
“I was trying to draw the arc of [Jack’s] romance, which for much of the development – it was actually too late for it to become an exclusively male / female romance, “Kindregan said.” She was essentially pansexual during most of the development of this novel.
He continued: “Mass Effect was criticized in a really unfair way in the United States by Fox News, which at the time … maybe more people in the world thought there was a connection between reality and what is discussed on Fox News. The Mass Effect 2 development team was a very progressive and open-minded team, but I think there was a concern at very high levels that [the first] Mass Effect, who only had a gay relationship, Liara – who on paper was not technically a gay relationship because she was a kind of unique gender – I think there was a concern that if it had caused a fire, Mass Effect 2 would have to be a little careful. “
The first Mass Effect game drew a lot of criticism – read: Pointless Pearl Clutching – but in the wake of the controversy, BioWare boss Ray Muzyka said he was “proud” of the title’s sexual content. In Mass Effect 3, these romance options became “broader”.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition – a remake of the original Mass Effect games – is in development and will be released in spring 2021 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.