The 3DO Company, and Crystal Dynamics. Gavin and Rubin initially came closest to accepting Crystal Dynamics's offer, but discovered an internal divide between those who wanted to publish the game and those who wanted to purchase the game and use its engine to develop Samurai Shodown titles. Hawkins, representing 3DO, also tempted them into granting the rights by using his charisma and positivity, which Gavin informally described as his "reality distortion field"; Rubin claimed that Hawkins's persuasion skills appeared to affect everyone around him, particularly his employees. For this reason, they were hesitant to accept his offer despite their previous business experiences with him. Universal Interactive ultimately won the game's publishing rights by offering Naughty Dog a place on their lot and funding for three additional games, over which Naughty Dog would have creative freedom. Rubin reflected that "Had we gone with 3DO as an exclusive, it could have been the end of Naughty Dog". Naughty Dog later worked with American Laser Games to develop an arcade version of the game; prototypes were built and tested, but were never released. Aside from the controllers, the arcade version was identical to the 3DO version, and even used a 3DO Interactive Multiplayer system for hardware. Reception Way of the Warrior first appeared on sampler discs as a non-playable demo for the consumer and playable demos were sent out to various magazines. While initial response was very positive, the final product received mixed reactions from the press. The game was praised for its graphics and fatalities. However, critics were quick to point out Way of the Warrior as an inferior clone of Mortal Kombat, panning its poor controls, character design, loading times, sound effects, and the timing of pulling special moves, as well as its shallow mechanics, with some negatively comparing it to Mortal Kombat as well as other games in the genre such as Primal Rage and Killer Instinct. The reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game an average score of 3.75 out of 10, praising the graphics, animation, and fatalities, but panning the controls, especially the difficulty in pulling off special moves. GamePro gave the game a negative review, citing dull character design, long load times, small sprites, weak sound effects, and shallow challenge. Contradicting Electronic Gaming Monthly, however, they asserted that "Executing the special moves is not hard". Next Generation reviewed the game, rating it two stars out of