The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim joins the ranks of franchises including Fable, Dragon Age, and Mass Effect by allowing players to participate in same-sex relationships. If you don't think this is particularly mind-blowing, you're not alone. Bethesda's VP of marketing and PR Pete Hines says that the company wasn't trying to be secretive about the game's gay marriages, but that they're "just not making a huge deal out of it."

Marriage is new territory for the series, so it's not clear if...relations will be handled in animated vignettes, the way BioWare has approached the subject, or if they'll be more like Fable's turn-off-the-lights strategy. Regardless, expect to see this element taken out of context in the mainstream press. Meanwhile, nobody will make a fuss over the fact that you can set people on fire in the game.

In unrelated news, Hines also tweeted that Skyrim won't feature an arena or something comparable to it. That sound you hear is a million would-be pit fighters exhaling deeply in disappointment.

Thanks for the tip, Nick!

[Via IGN]

