Amidst many headlines, Hasbro has responded to the concern that the character of Rey is nowhere to be found in its current Star Wars Monopoly game, explaining that her absence is the result of wishing to keep the secrets of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The game, which features character tokens for Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader from the original Star Wars trilogy and Kylo Ren and Finn from The Force Awakens, has met with fierce criticism online from fans upset that the lead character from the new movie was apparently passed over for inclusion.
Of course, Rey’s absence from Monopoly (and the resultant upset) isn’t happening in a vacuum. The relative lack of toys and merchandise featuring Daisy Ridley’s character has been a hot topic on social media and fan sites even before The Force Awakens opened in theaters.
Since the movie’s release, the subject has gone mainstream, culminating in a highly viral letter written by an 8-year-old and shared on Twitter by her mother, regarding the Monopoly game.
8 yr old asks, How could you leave out Rey in SW Monopoly? @LetToysBeToys @HasbroNews @PigtailPals #WheresRey pic.twitter.com/EnOs56PQE5
— Carrie Goldman (@CarrieMGoldman) January 4, 2016
This was apparently too much for Hasbro to remain silent, with the company releasing a statement that revealed that Rey was left out of the game to avoid spoiling the movie.
“The Star Wars: Monopoly game was released in September, months before the movie’s release, and Rey was not included to avoid revealing a key plot line that she takes on Kylo Ren and joins the Rebel Alliance,” a spokesperson for Hasbro explained.
After pointing out that Rey is present in other existing Hasbro releases, including Star Wars-centric editions of games Guess Who? and Hands Down and multiple action figure lines, “fans will see more Rey product hitting store shelves this month, including 6″ and 12″ Rey action figures.”
Moreover, the statement continued, the company is “thrilled with the popularity of this compelling character and will continue to look for ways to showcase Rey across all of our product lines.”
Update, 1/6/16: Hasbro updated its response late Tuesday, adding that Rey will be included in future editions of the Monopoly: Star Wars game starting later in 2016.
