Massive Chalice Will Support Same-Sex Marriage Feature

It only took 5 days for Double Fine’s Massive Chalice to meet its $725,000 Kickstarter goal.

Now, Project Lead Brad Muir has confirmed that the upcoming tactical strategy game will include support for same-sex marriage as the result of fan feedback.

Was a Same-Sex Marriage Option Planned From the Start?

In the interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Muir commented:

“We did not talk about [the possibility of gay marriage] until we launched the Kickstarter. We were so focused on pure pragmatic mechanics and how it would work and coupling and all these things that we hadn’t [considered it]. That was something I got kinda blindsided by. That was really unfortunate. It kinda makes me feel s****y that it’s not something I’d thought of. I think it’s sort of hetero privilege that I didn’t see it coming.”

Muir believes that funding the project through Kickstarter has provided Double Fine with the opportunity to make the addition into the game possible. Had his team gone with a more traditional financial source, things may not have ended well. Muir strongly believes a publisher would have shot down the idea of a same-sex marriage feature:

“If somebody did think about it during that whole thing, they would’ve probably just killed it, because it is such a controversial issue. They’d probably not want to have it associated with the game at all. And then they’d give me a PR company line that I’d have to tell in every interview, and it’d be super, super s****y. And then any gay gamers who are coming to the game and playing it and wanting to see themselves represented would just be really disappointed.”

How Will the Option be Implemented?

Although Massive Chalice still remains in early phases of development, the decision to include same-sex marriage has now become a serious goal for the team. Exact mechanics for how the feature will work within the game are still being discussed:

“One of the suggestions was to allow couples–male/female or otherwise–to contribute to the good of the realm via means other than childbirth. So couples could raise children or research technology. That’s one interesting way to handle it. And then, if you couple it with the ability to foster children, I think that’s a way you could have same-sex couples in the game. And it’s optional. People can choose to engage it or not.”

 Massive Chalice is being built on Double Fine’s in-house Buddha engine, and will be launched on the PC, Mac, and Linux.