To kick off its new business partnership with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Microsoft was kind enough to give away the UFC 141: "Lesnar vs. Overeem" pay-per-view (PPV) for FREE to the first 30,000 fight fans who subscribed to Xbox Live and downloaded the UFC App for streaming the Dec. 30 fight card.
Except no one got what they didn't pay for.
As our very own Sergio Hernandez illustrated in this post, the influx of requests became too much for the servers to handle, leaving most fans with nothing more than an error message and a night full of frustration.
Microsoft later apologized and announced it would make amends by offering fans a fight card for free at a later date. As it turns out, it won't be much later at all.
In an e-mail sent out to users, XBox Live revealed it will offer fans the chance to watch the UFC 142: "Aldo vs. Mendes" event for free this Sat., Jan. 14, 2012. But that's not all. The complete e-mail is after the jump.
You're receiving this note because you were one of the many fans who registered to experience UFC 141 on Xbox LIVE.
First and foremost, please allow us to apologize for the technical issues that impacted your access to UFC 141 on Xbox LIVE. We remain committed to providing you with the quality experience you expect, therefore we completed a thorough investigation into the issues that prevented you from enjoying UFC 141 on Xbox LIVE, and we're confident that we've addressed the problems.
We'd love it if you'd give us a second chance, and we'd like to offer you another opportunity to experience UFC on Xbox LIVE free of charge with UFC RIO: Aldo vs. Mendes on January 14th, 2012. Instructions on how to access UFC RIO on Xbox LIVE are outlined below. In addition, we're providing all those impacted by the UFC 141 technical issues with one month of free Xbox LIVE Gold membership.
As we continue to polish and refine the application, new functionality and features will be released. In the meantime, we believe we're building the most compelling, interactive way to experience the fun and excitement of UFC in your living room, and now it is our job to prove it to you.
Thank you for being a valued Xbox LIVE member.
Sincerely,
The Xbox LIVE Team
There you have it. Instead of Lesnar vs. Overeem, you get Aldo vs. Mendes and one free month of XBox Live Gold membership.
You're getting something you didn't have to pay for because you didn't get something you never paid for in the first place.
Sounds like a winner, Maniacs.