forthog shadow of war.jpg

Last year, Monolith executive producer Mike Forgey sadly passed away. To honour his memory, the developer created a Middle-earth: Shadow of War character named Forthog Orc-Slayer, who randomly appears to save protagonist Talion's life if he's about to be struck by a killing blow in combat. It was certainly a nice idea.

Unfortunately, when it was revealed that Forthog would only be available as a piece of premium downloadable content, there was controversy. Priced at £3.99, publisher Warner Bros. said that a portion of the money raised by the DLC would be donated to Forgey's family. However, many saw this as the company attempting to profit from the death of an employee.

Thankfully, Warner Bros. has published an official statement on the matter. Essentially, the publishers apologises for any confusion that was caused: "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."

What's more, the Forthog DLC has now been made free, and Warner Bros. is apparently happy to provide refunds for anyone who bought it in the first place. The statement continues: "To ensure the two original aims are still met and to provide transparency to the community, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will instead make a donation directly to the Forgey family. The DLC will be withdrawn from sale and will be a free download for owners of Middle-earth: Shadow of War.  Anyone who has purchased the DLC will receive a full refund."

It also links a site where you can donate directly to Forgey's family. You can find that by clicking through here.

[source community.wbgames.com]