BioWare has bowed to pressure to introduce same-sex relationships into its free-to-play MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, but has confined it to a single planet.
As reported by PCGamesN, the planet Makeb has been introduced in the game’s latest expansion, Rise of the Hutt Cartel, upon which is the only place in the galaxy where players can come across same-sex flirtation, romance or gay NPCs.
To access the planet, players must pay for the expansion pack, and they must also level up their character significantly to enter the high-level planet in the first place.
BioWare made the decision in the Old Republic’s initial development not to introduce same-sex romance or gay companions.
This means that, given the impressive amount of scripting and voiceover work involved in creating the game, it is now difficult for the developer to make changes to current characters, companions and romance interests, given the expensive cost of such an endeavour.