My Little Pony: Fighting is Magic fan game suffers leak of unfinished code

The fan-made My Little Pony fighting game goes back to the drawing board as an internal code leak grinds QA testing to a halt.

A code leak of the internal build for fan-made fighting game My Little Pony: Fighting is Magic, based the popular cartoon by Hasbro Studios, has ground its QA testing to a halt, a letter on the game's official website states.

The build featured four of the series' main characters — ponies Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity — fighting Super Smash Bros.-style, and was built on 2D Fighter Maker 2002. The code was published to the internet by one of the QA testers selected by developer Mane6.

"One of our QAs broke our trust and a NDA agreement, and leaked a working build of Fighting is Magic to the Internet," reads the post. "As a result, our Internal QA testing program has been terminated."

In addition to terminating the QA program, Mane6 will not be running open alpha or beta testing until the remaining two characters – winged ponies Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy — are finished for the internal build. The website will no longer post content-related updates, and Mane6 will not be taking applications for the next internal QA testing period; instead, the team will handpick its next group of testers.

The video below shows the game in its current incarnation, which Mane6 reassured fans is still in development. "The game's not cancelled, we're still working on it," the team wrote.

My Little Pony: Fighting is Magic is an entirely fan-made free-to-play game and does not accept donations. "Fighting is Magic was planned from the start to be absolutely freeware," reads the game's FAQ. "That doesn't mean, however, that we're half-flanking the job. We're doing our absolute best to deliver a fun, and as bug-free as possible, quality game on release."