Plants vs Zombies Update Removes Michael Jackson Cameo
Estate lawyers told PopCap to Beat It.
PopCap Games has updated its popular tower defence game, Plants vs. Zombies, in response to a legal objection by Michael Jackson's estate. In the change, the 'Dancing Zombie' - which assumes the form of the pop superstar in Thriller - has been replaced with a generic disco-dancer.
Plants vs. Zombies has enjoyed significant success in the portable gaming space since launching on the Apple iPhone back in 2009. With the game is also available for iPad, PC and Mac, it was only a matter of time before Michael Jackson's estate lawyers noticed the homage and knuckled down on the developer.
"The Estate of Michael Jackson objected to our use of the 'dancing zombie' in PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES based on its view that the zombie too closely resembled Michael Jackson," said a statement from PopCap. "After receiving this objection, PopCap made a business decision to retire the original 'dancing zombie' and replace it with a different 'dancing zombie' character for future builds of PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES on all platforms. The phase-out and replacement process is underway."
Saddened by this news? You Are Not Alone.
Source: MTV
Plants vs. Zombies has enjoyed significant success in the portable gaming space since launching on the Apple iPhone back in 2009. With the game is also available for iPad, PC and Mac, it was only a matter of time before Michael Jackson's estate lawyers noticed the homage and knuckled down on the developer.
"The Estate of Michael Jackson objected to our use of the 'dancing zombie' in PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES based on its view that the zombie too closely resembled Michael Jackson," said a statement from PopCap. "After receiving this objection, PopCap made a business decision to retire the original 'dancing zombie' and replace it with a different 'dancing zombie' character for future builds of PLANTS vs. ZOMBIES on all platforms. The phase-out and replacement process is underway."
Saddened by this news? You Are Not Alone.
Source: MTV
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Comments
irritant 28 Jul 2010 10:41
1/1
That is pretty pathetic. I understand the need to protect copyrights but common sense should be applied. It's not like Pop Cap are making any additional money from the fact that the MJ Zombie appears in the game.