Middle-earth: Shadow of War developer, Monolith Productions' Executive Producer Michael Forgey passed away last year. As a tribute to his memory, Monolith and Warner Bros. announced a DLC character for Shadow of War based on Forgey's likeness that was purchasable for $4.99, with proceeds going to the family of the deceased developer.
However, Warner Bros. announced today that it has made the DLC free for all players, with refunds being issued to those who purchased it.
It seems that while the company was, in fact, donating all proceeds to the family, miscommunication with the community caused some controversy, especially after "a factually incorrect tweet" came out saying that donations from outside the U.S. would not reach the family.
According to the statement, the reason why the company did not specify where the proceeds from international purchases were going was to avoid legal trouble with the compliance and marketing laws in place on the various territories that the DLC was available on. The statement went on to say, "For absolute clarity; our intention was always to give all profits from the DLC, worldwide to the Forgey family."
Regarding the whole situation, Warner Bros. apologized to the Forgey family and fans, saying the following:
We now recognize that tying our donation to sales of the DLC was not the best way to achieve our goal of offering financial support to the family and creating a lasting memorial to Michael Forgey. We sincerely apologize to the fans and to the Forgey family for the confusion we created.
With the DLC now being a free add-on to the game, Warner Bros. will instead make a direct donation to the family, however, exact amounts were not disclosed. Interested parties can also donate to the Forgey family on their YouCaring page here.
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