Nintendo has issued a formal apology for ignoring the possibility for same-sex relationships in their life simulation game "Tomodachi Life."

"We apologize for disappointing many people by failing to include same-sex relationships in Tomodachi Life," read the official statement. "Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to change this game's design, and such a significant development change can't be accomplished with a post-ship patch."

"Tomadachi Life," a game for the Nintendo 3DS that allows players to use virtual avatars known as Miis, is one of the bestselling games in Japan. It has sold 1.83 million copies since its release date last year and is now scheduled to hit shelves in North America and Europe on June 6.

Tomadachi Life offers a great number of possibilities for social interactions. Players can develop friendships, go out on dates, get married and even have children. Yet the game has no option for same-sex romances.

Nintendo fan Tye Marini, a 23-year-old from Mesa, Arizona, started a social media campaign calling for Nintendo to correct the issue with a patch.

"I want to be able to marry my real-life fiancé's Mii, but I can't do that," Marini said in an online video. "My only options are to marry some female Mii, to change the gender of either my Mii or my fiancé's Mii or to completely avoid marriage altogether and miss out on the exclusive content that comes with it."

Wilson Cruz, spokesperson for the LGBT advocacy GLAAD, also heavily criticized Nintendo exclusion of same-sex couples.

"In purposefully limiting players' relationship options, Nintendo is not only sending a hurtful message to many of its fans and consumers by excluding them, but also setting itself way behind the times," Cruz said to Gamesbeat. He went on to point out how similar series, such as the more than decade old game "The Sims," has always offered the chance for players to marry whomever they wanted.

"Nintendo never intended to make any form of social commentary with the launch of 'Tomodachi Life,'" Nintendo of America Inc. originally said in a statement to The Associated Press. "The relationship options in the game represent a playful alternate world rather than a real-life simulation. We hope that all of our fans will see that 'Tomodachi Life' was intended to be a whimsical and quirky game, and that we were absolutely not trying to provide social commentary."

However, Nintendo has since acknowledged that they made a mistake by not considering its entire audience.

"We pledge that, if we create a next installment in the Tomodachi series, we will strive to design a game-play experience from the ground up that is more inclusive, and better represents all players," read the statement.