The game in the video above is Fighters Uncaged, a fighting game for the XboX 360 that utilizes the XBoX Kinect motion control system to turn the game player into the game controller. The on-screen character replicates the movements that the player makes in his living room, and virtual beatdowns ensue. That’s the concept, at least. In reality, the game has been beaten up so bad by critics that Dana White wanted to fire it.
Developed by AMA Studios and published by UbiSoft, the French company known for franchises Assassin’s Creed, Rayman, FarCry, and every Tom Clancy-inspired video game you’ve ever heard of, Fighters Uncaged has been universally panned for being a giant turd sandwich of entertainment. Props for taking risks and pushing the envelope, we guess, but this was a case where UbiSoft quality control let them down.
Apparently, their marketing and legal teams let them down as well. The original packaging for Fighters Uncaged, players are invited to “Become the ULTIMATE FIGHTING weapon!”.
Uh oh. No way that’s going to fly with the UFC.
So Zuffa’s legal team contacted UbiSoft and pointed out that “ultimate fighting” is kind of a brand-name sort of thing, and that Zuffa actually owns a trademark on the phrase “ultimate fighting”, and “ultimate fighting” is only done when Zuffa says it is, and unless UbiSoft wanted to get “ultimately fought”, they needed to stop selling the game and retool the packaging.
And according to a press release, UbiSoft collectively threws its hands in the air crying “MERDE!”, then quickly surrendered and agreed to all terms.
No word yet on if the company will actually try to push out more copies of this abomination, but it doesn’t matter because you don’t want it. Just trust us. You’re welcome.
[RX]