South Park: The Fractured But Whole was originally going to be titled South Park: The Butthole of Time, but its creators were forced to change the name after being told retailers would not stock the title.
Speaking in a new behind the scenes video, South Park masterminds Matt Stone and Trey Parker spoke about the process behind naming the upcoming action-RPG, as well as what lessons were learned from the original game, The Stick of Truth.
"It was originally called The Butthole of Time. They ran it past the whatever and said you can’t put Butthole of Time," said Parker. "The retailers won’t put ‘butthole’ on a shelf," continued Stone. "So I just sat there at my desk for hours like butthole, butthole, butthole, butt hole… But Whole!"
"It was just the best material I could have because it was like, I was watching an audience member play it and what they were thinking about it," Parker added. "It was great to have that as a resource."
South Park: The Fractured But Whole release date confirmed for holiday 2016
Developed at Ubisoft San Francisco in collaboration with South Park Digital Studios, The Fractured But Whole is due for release worldwide on PlayStation 4, PC, and Xbox One on December 6.
The plot follows on from The Stick of Truth, which sees the children of South Park becoming role-playing superheroes. However, disagreements rear their head over Cartman’s film franchise, and in the resulting fallout, a civil war breaks out where a number of kids plan their own series instead.
Once again, the player controls the protagonist known affectionately as ‘The New Kid,’ although this time you can select your gender.