Dead Commander Shepard statue pulled from Bioware store

In a bit of a blunder, Mass Effect developer BioWare added a new Commander Shepard statue to their storefront, only to immediately remove it a few hours later. Why? Because the statue portrayed the Commander of the Normandy’s death in the horrific vacuum of space, and fans were confused at best, and upset at worst. 

Bioware issued a statement on Twitter regarding the decision to remove the statue from their online store. This statement reads, “this statue was intended to be part of a series, commemorating some of the key and most emotional moments in the series.” and then follows with the announcement of the statue’s removal. 

Much of the discussion surrounding the announcement was either confusion at why Bioware would think that people want this displayed in their homes, or, anger. Most of the angry side of the debate seems especially upset that this figure is the first one that Bioware has released portraying a female Commander Shepard (or Femshep as she is known by fans), and it’s not exactly a positive moment of hers. 

While it’s true that the moment of Commander Shepard’s death (temporary though it may be) is incredibly breathtaking and powerful in Mass Effect 2, it is still good to see the team at Bioware taking on the criticism and working to make this release more palatable. It’s unclear whether direct changes will be made to the statue itself, or if the team will just be more careful about how it is advertised in future. 

Either way, keep an eye out for the Commander’s limp corpse, who knows when it might come floating by again.