Manchester United will be called “Man UFC” for forthcoming Football Manager instalments, according to the game’s recent tweets.
The game said that it had been speaking to the club directly about the name in which it could use to refer to the Red Devils and that finally it had been decided that the northwest club will be called “Man UFC.”
The clubs sued Football Manager’s publisher Sega in May last year, some 16 years after the release of Sports Interactive’s first Football Manager game.
But Sega and Sports Interactive countered, saying via Eurogamer that the use of their name was “a legitimate reference to the Manchester United football team in a football context.”
They also said the matter had not been an issue before, that their name has been having been used in Football Manager and its predecessor Championship Manager since 1992 without complaint.
“Consumers expect to see the club crest next to the name Manchester United… and this failure to do so amounts to wrongful use,” United argued, although the club’s lawyer accepted this argument was “somewhat novel, and certainly in the context of video games, but it is certainly arguable”.
But now those differences have been set aside, and United have a cool, new name…
Man UFC – the hardest b*****ds in the game
In a series of tweets, the games said: “Manchester United and Sega have agreed a settlement to amicably resolve their trade mark dispute relating to Football Manager. Both parties are pleased to resolve this matter to their mutual satisfaction.”
And when a user asked what the club would be called, they said: “From FM22 onwards, the Manchester United football club will be named ‘Manchester UFC’ or ‘Man UFC’. These name changes have been made purely to settle the dispute on a no admissions basis.”
Featured image credit: Football Manager/SEGA
