Nintendo responds to petition to include Robin Williams tribute in Zelda game

A fan-petition for Nintendo to include a character named after Robin Williams, who died earlier this week, has so far collected almost 90,000 signatures.

Nintendo tonight responded to Polygon's request for comment on the Change.org petition, which asks that Nintendo name one of its non-player characters 'Robin' in the next Zelda game.

Williams, who had recently been diagnosed with a serious illness and suffered from Depression, took his own life on Monday. He had been a keen fan of Nintendo games and named his daughter, Zelda, after The Legend of Zelda.

At this point, Nintendo has declined to make any commitment to the petition.

"Robin Williams was loved at Nintendo." offered a Nintendo spokesperson. "Our hearts go out to his entire family, and especially to Zelda Williams who we've worked with multiple times.

"We appreciate the outpouring of support from the gaming community, and hear the request of fans to honor him in a future game. We will not be discussing what might be possible for future games during this difficult time, but we will hold our memories of Robin close."

The petition, organized by Nick Schaedel, asks that Nintendo "please consider naming an NPC in the new Legend of Zelda game after Robin Williams. It was a series he loved, and it's a small tribute to a great man."

Actor Zelda Williams, 25, has worked with Nintendo on various promotional exercises, and is a keen video game player. In 2013 Nintendo announced that it is working on a new Wii U Zelda game for Wii U, due to be released next year.

On the petition page, Schaedel states, "If Nintendo does do this, it would be an unexpected but wonderful outcome. If Nintendo takes some other action or even just posts a statement ... that is also a wonderful outcome. If Nintendo doesn't do anything, then this petition simply stands as a reflection of a lesser-known way that Mr Williams touched the lives of many people. That's fine too."

Earlier this week Blizzard stated that it is considering a similar request by World of Warcraft fans.