Zombie Michael Jackson Removed from PvZ, and Important Note to iPhone 4 Owners

Image from MTV Multiplayer

Plants vs. Zombies for the iPhone has received an update that removes a zombie that resembles Michael Jackson in his Triller music video. The Dancing Zombie received a sprite swap and now has a disco look.

It turns out that the lawyers of Michael Jackson's estate requested that PopCap make the change.

MTV's Multiplayer Blog contacted PopCap Games about the change, and they responded:

"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. 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."

Multiplayer also pointed out something important: iPhone 4 owners who are upgrading will have the game crash. Note that this does not affect iPhone 4 owners who are buying the game new. It's just a problem with the update, which Popcap says will be fixed soon.

via MTV Multiplayer Blog