Following up on the success of Electonic Art’s UFC Undisputed fighting simulator series, the powerhouse video game publisher logically made the decision to tackle the other fighting franchises. With literally decades of experience in sports series, such as Madden NFL, the company surely has experience in the legal department when it comes to licensing teams, places, and products. Now, however, heat has been raised on the Danish version of EA MMA. What is their solution to the situation?
Easy: to simply keep it away from Denmark. According to Scandinavian law, the logistics for advertising prevents the promotion of energy drinks in the region. Because some of the arenas in the game feature advertisements for energy drinks in their real-life counterparts, the game features them as well. This, in turn, indirectly violates the legal clause, thus preventing the game’s release in the region. EA Sports, however, chose to keep the realism even if it meant sacrificing the release in that region. According to an EA representative:
“We are adhering to laws in Denmark that restrict the use of energy drink product placement in-game, and therefore are not shipping EA SPORTS MMA in that region. Our game authentically recreates the sport of MMA in every facet, including energy drink in-game sponsorships on fighter shorts, gear, and in fight venues.”
It is great to see a large corporation like EA looking out for the gamers and their experience of the game but could there be something more to this story than what seems like typical PR speak? Could EA possibly be looking out for their own interests due to license agreements and revenue with said energy drink company or even the MMA license itself or are they telling the truth? Tells us what you think in the comments below.
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