Maybe Hasbro thought the game wasn’t violent enough.

It takes a lot to make me legitimately mad. This week had one of those rare moments.

A widely accepted justification for the Fighting is Magic take-down has been that the game featured the main characters of the show beating each other up in cartoony ways. I initially bought this reasoning because, hey, Hasbro’s a toy company, and they have an image to cull.

That changed when I cracked open IDW’s My Little Pony comic #3.

The issue was actually pretty good, and it’s starting to pull me in a bit more that the first two did, yet there is one difference between the show and comic that’s quickly apparent. The comic gets freaking dark. Bizarrely so. Take this prime example:

Let’s not mince words here. Even if what is actually happening isn’t what’s clearly implied, that’s still some deeply disturbing imagery. This is something that would never fly in the show. Heck, THERE WAS BLOODY CONTROVERCY OVER THE USE OF THE WORD “EGGHEAD!”

This brings me to my point. How is it that something like that, which is officially licensed by Hasbro, permitted to occur, yet fans can’t make a game with some silly, mild, over the top, cartoony violence? The previous “fighting game violence” argument just falls apart here, unless Hasbro was just incredibly negligent in keeping tabs on IDW. We’re looking at incompetence or hypocrisy or a yet to be justified reason Fighting is Magic needed to die for Hasbro. No matter the case, it makes them look really bad right now.

Hasbro, Mane6 have already shown a care and dedication to the property. The animation, music, and voicework are excellent, and it’s made by people who buy your products for other people who buy your products. You don’t have to post it on the top of the Hub website, but you also don’t need to kill it. Just check in every once and a while to make sure they’re not doing anything crazy like adding blood or giving Fluttershy a hatchet. Maintaining and communicating with a fanbase isn’t about stopping people from enjoying things in an unexpected way, it’s about fostering support. The numbers will always call us a key demographic, but remember, there are people behind those numbers too.

Jeez. Guys, I promise to have something silly and lighthearted next week, I swear. I don’t care if I come up with the best joke about human-version pony spin-off rumors ever, this trend is just killing my spirit right now.

Oh, and by the way, that IDW issue #3, Best. Cover. Ever. Seriously, buy it. It’s freaking cool.

Addendum: (added 2/15/13)

I feel the need to add this as I’m getting a lot of responses relating to copyright infringement as the core reason for the take-down. I didn’t address this initially because I didn’t feel it necessary, and for that I apologize.

It’s quite concerning that so many people are interpreting the situation as “Hasbro had to do this because, if not, it would threaten their ownership of the franchise,” and this is simply untrue. I’ve come up with five scenarios where this could have played out differently, and while not all of them are equally realistic, all of them would have kept this from being the corrosive situation it was.

Hasbro: “Huh. This Fighting is Magic project is gaining a lot of attention…”

1. “Awesome! It raised $5,000 for breast cancer research! I bet if we took this in as an official project, it could make us a few bucks too!”

2. “Neat! I don’t think this is something we want to make super-public, but I bet we could give them some legitimate approval in exchange for a little creative oversight. You know, just so we can make sure this doesn’t go in an undesirable direction.”

3. “Huh, well, we could do something about this, but it really could be interpreted as Free Use, so I think we’re safe.”

4. “Huh, well, we could do something about this, but it really could be interpreted as parody, so I think we’re safe.”

5. “Well, this isn’t something we want to get out more than it has. We should probably talk with Mane6, and maybe request that they make a few changes to avoid infringing on our copyright, and if they don’t, then we’ll take legal action.”

What bothers me most, and the reason I’m willing to jump all over the straight-to-lawyer issue is that there’s a lack of open communication. Mane6 have generally proven themselves to be open and reasonable with their communication, so when they say they haven’t heard back from Hasbro, I have no reason to doubt them. Yes, Hasbro has no legal responsibility to respond or work with them, but if they care about maintaining a relationship with the people who are passionate about their products and franchises, then they should, and if they don’t care, well, that’s more concerning than the cancellation of a thousand fan games.

I made violence the core issue here because, to me, that was the only speedbump in them lending an olive branch out to the developers, and giving them the opportunity to make the game and release it for free without copyright issues. I just assumed that others would agree that the franchise would be in a better place if Hasbro took an attitude similar to Valve on the matter and not that of Square Enix.

See ya on the other side of Season 3!
GX