EA Adds, then Removes, Mid-Fight Ads to UFC 4

UFC 4 was already a pretty hard sell, considering how famously buggy the release was and how it was put out by EA, which isn’t the worst company in the gaming space but is pretty comfortably sitting at that #2 spot. So it was a bit baffling when, over the weekend, EA looked at UFC 4 and thought “you know what, we think we can push our luck just a little bit more."

So they took UFC 4, which was already full of ads for a premium-priced game, and they decided to throw even more ads into it. But these aren’t your unobtrusive, side-of-the-ring ads: these were flashing, in your face, blocking the screen kind of ads that would pop up before replays between bouts. They were obnoxious, they were tasteless, and they were a big ol’ lightning rod for a community that was already pissed off at EA. The backlash and outrage against these ads (which included The Boys, why are we seeing The Boys advertised everywhere? The first season wasn’t even that good) were so pronounced and so intense that EA actually reversed the decision over the weekend.

Earlier this week, the team turned on ad placements in EA SPORTS UFC 4 that appeared during the “Replay” moments in gameplay. This type of advertising inventory is not new to the UFC franchise, though we have typically reserved displaying ads to specific main menu tiles or Octagon logo placement. It is abundantly clear from your feedback that integrating ads into the Replay and overlay experience is not welcome.

The advertisements have been disabled by the team and we apologize for any disruption to gameplay that players may have experienced. We realize that this should have been communicated with players ahead of time and that’s on us. We want to make sure our players have the best possible experience playing EA SPORTS UFC 4, so ad integration in the Replay and overlay experience will not be reappearing in the future. Thank you for your continued feedback on EA SPORTS UFC 4.

So they’re gone, and they’re not coming back. That’s great, but also, you realize this won’t stop here, right? EA will just keep trying different ways to throw more ads into our faces while we play, discarding the ones that cause immense backlash while keeping the ones that only cause a small irritation. They’re gonna keep at it until they find the perfect mix… and then they’ll keep making it worse and worse, all while still charging 60+ bucks for the opportunity to “play” these ads.

So don’t rest easy yet, UFC subreddit. The best is yet to come.