After the snafu it caused with the release of its latest downloadable content (DLC), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Monolith Productions have rectified their error and clarified the confusion over their handling of the latest "Middle-earth: Shadow of War" DLC. The Forthog DLC, which was developed to honor one of the game's developers who unfortunately passed away last year, will now be free to everyone.
For consumers who have already paid for the DLC, they will get a refund. In meeting the original goal of the DLC, Warner Bros. and Monolith will also make a contribution to the family of developer Michael "4G" Forgey.
The initial vision was to have profits from the sale of the Forthog DLC be given to Forgey's widow and children. The developer succumbed to glioblastoma, a rare form of cancer, in March 2016. However, the effort earned a lot of criticism after statements came out that a portion of the profits would not go to Forgey's family.
Warner Bros. has released a new statement to shed light on the confusion. In it, the company said that they, along with Monolith, had always intended to give all sale profits of the Forthog DLC to Forgey's loved ones but only "planned to actively promote this donation in the U.S."
This was for both companies to stay compliant with the laws of different territories. If they went ahead and detailed where the funds from other countries would be going, it might have triggered several compliance obligations or worse, put them in violation of marketing laws.
The developer sincerely apologized to the Forgey family and to the fans for the confusion and stress they created. They have decided to make the Forthog DLC free for everyone, and they will refund all those who had already paid.
On top of that, Warner Bros and Monolith will also make a donation and give it directly to Forgey's widow and children. They also encouraged the fans to directly donate to the family by visiting the youcaring site.
