EA remove invasive advertising from UFC 4

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UFC 4 was launched on August 14, by the hand of EA, and in less than a month it has been involved in its first controversy. A user denounced, through Reddit, the inclusion of advertising spaces at the beginning of the repetitions of the combats. The complaint has been supported by more than 90,000 players, and EA has had to back down. The discontent is not surprising if we consider that it is a complete game for which users have paid around 60$.

The video posted on Reddit shows how a full screen ad is displayed at the start of the replay. It is a promotion of the Amazon Prime series, The Boys, whose second season was launched on September 4. Also, at the end of the same replay another small ad for the same product is shown, and the ring is decorated with the series logo. As if that were not enough, outside of the replay, during the same fight, a small pop-up ad for the same product is displayed.

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EA's decision did not come out of nowhere, but rather from previous experiments with UFC 3. Several companies made experimental announcements in the third installment of the sports simulator. This is a new attempt by large companies to reach young audiences, who increasingly consume less traditional television. Finally, in a statement that has also been posted on Reddit, the EA team has taken a step back and apologized for their actions.

“Earlier this week, the team triggered commercials in EA SPORTS UFC 4 that appeared during replays of the game. This type of advertising space is not new in the UFC franchise, although in general they are usually located in specific tiles of the main menu in forms in the octagon.
“The comments make it clear that the integration of ads into replay is not welcome. Ads have been disabled by the team and we apologize for any game interruptions players may have experienced. We realize that this should have been communicated to the players in advance and that is up to us. We want to make sure our players have the best possible experience playing EA Sports UFC 4, so the ad integration into the replay and overlay experience will not appear again in the future. Thank you for your continued feedback on EA Sports UFC 4. "

At least this time, user complaints have served to stop this practice and give players a satisfactory gaming experience.



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