After more than two years of development, ONE Championship has officially released ONE Fight Arena, their much-anticipated mobile game. However, fans have expressed surprise and disappointment upon discovering that the gameplay bears a striking resemblance to popular match-three puzzle games.
The official announcement from November 2023 promoted ONE Fight Arena as an “action-packed PvP strategy game that puts you inside the ONE Circle,” featuring the organization’s biggest superstars. Many fans expected a combat simulation experience that would capture the essence of mixed martial arts competition.
Instead, social media has been flooded with reactions from bemused users who discovered that the core gameplay involves matching similar items in rows, a mechanic popularized by games like Candy Crush.
“I thought this is a combat game,” one user posted alongside a crying emoji, while another commented, “I can’t believe it took over 2 years to develop this.”
The gameplay videos shared online show a puzzle-matching interface with fighting graphics overlaid on the traditional match-three formula. One Twitter user described it as “Candy Crush but with fight graphics to maximize dopamine.”
Some fans expressed their disappointment more directly, with comments like “What a disappointment” and questioning who the target audience might be. “Who does ONE Championship think will enjoy this kind of game? Grandma who watch ONE every week?” one user asked.
This release comes at a challenging time for ONE Championship’s digital presence. The organization’s mobile app has faced criticism in recent years, with user reviews highlighting issues ranging from video playback problems to regional restrictions and paywalls. Many users have expressed frustration with the viewing experience, particularly in the United States where content distribution has shifted between platforms.
While ONE Championship has grown significantly as a sports organization, this latest mobile offering appears to have missed the mark with core fans who were expecting a more authentic fighting game experience rather than a puzzle game with combat aesthetics.
The company has yet to respond to the wave of feedback regarding ONE Fight Arena’s gameplay mechanics, leaving fans wondering if updates might bring the game closer to what they had anticipated.
