Should EA Sports Pull the Plug on Future MMA Installments?

When I played the EA Sports MMA demo, I didn’t really care for it.

This was the biggest mistake I think they made. That demo was terrible, but gameplay the full version gives UFC 2010 a run for its money. I’d really like to see EA go for another release in 2011 or 12, the game definitely has the potential if they can make it financially feasible.

I haven’t tried the game yet, but the bottom line is that EA isn’t responsible to MMA fans or sports fans in general. They’re responsible to their shareholders. They’ll make their determinations based on that factor and that factor alone, much like when they originally laughed MMA out of the room.

My nephews are into video games hard and they couldn’t care less about the ea sports game because mostly everyone they know about is in the UFC. It’s going to be hard to get a casual MMA fan to buy this game when they don’t know most of the fighters.

I played Undisputed 2009/2010 almost religiously and EA blows them both out of the water. The EA game is just so much smoother and more enjoyable than the clunky Undisputed system in both gameplay and career. Sure the roster is a bit of a bummer, and the uneven stats on some characters (Fedor, Bas) make the online experience less than optimal, but as a whole there’s a much greater sense of accomplishment when you finally hit that LHK + right spin kick and knock your opponent out cold than there ever was in holding the left bumper and mashing punch until somebody fell over.

Does anybody know if THQ is the kind of company that incorporates good ideas from competitors or are they more likely to continue making games in the mold of Undisputed 09/10 if EA fails?

I believe that the demo more than likely hurt sales, as the build of the game was from late summer, before AI tweaks, and some further additions were tossed in. Fighting opponents that constantly shot in, in a game where you really need practice to get the timing down was a horrible first impression, and one that I’m sure lasted in the minds of those who played the demo.

In my opinion, they would have been far better served to give you cookie cutter CAF, and let you play through the beginning of the career mode, where you practice standup, standup + clinch, then a full MMA fight. This would have given a glimpse of what truly is a fun, interactive career mode EA MMA brings to the table, and where it gains a real foothold against Undisputed, in my opinion at least. I doubt that EA was foolish enough to think that this game would have even moderate success in the fall season, without the premier league of the sport, and great games being released all over the place.

If EA did their research, I suspect they’ve seen that MMA is gaining more and more attention each year, and that laying claim to some turf in the sport would be an investment with no immediate payoff. The developers of the game remain optimistic, already looking into the future for the game, of course, that’s their perspective, but the gaming world recognized EA MMA as a good fighting game, and a good representation of MMA…nothing is certain for the game’s future, but I feel like they have something that can become a mainstay of the sports genre, as Fight Night has become. More fighters are needed, more promotions need to get on board, but what I see is a good foundation for the future, far more solid than THQ’s first outing with Undisputed 09’.

If there is an EA MMA sequel, I do believe they’ll need to see increased sales if they wish to continue from there, and I believe the men and women working on the game know that. I expect great things, and, great things from THQ as well, as they’ll certainly want to stay ahead of the curve.

after reading the mostly positive reviews for the final product I decided that I’ll pick up the game once it comes down from its $60 price tag

So, although you read “mostly positive reviews”, you still won’t buy the game for it’s original asking price?

And people wonder why sales are so bad.

I hope they stick around for another go. Its the only game I play right now. Way more enjoyable than the ufc games in my opinion.

We all know that EA Sports MMA has had some pretty pathetic sales figures and has been proclaimed “DOA at retail.”

First, these sales figures were based in the UK, where even the UFC is still trying to set their footing. Secondly, a video game released going into the fourth quarter will not be judged by the market or the company till after Christmas. Then we will know how bad it did or not.
You have to look at it this way; EA Sports have two years before their next MMA game will be due for release. Now, EA will work on Fight Night for next year’s release and much of the development of that game automatically translates to EA MMA. The biggest thing the developers need to attack is the ground game controls.
The real task if for the marketing team. EA Sports has two years to work with Strikeforce/DREAM to get their fighters more visibility and more well known. This they can do. Their investment now is to the success of that company. If there is a future for the title, that is where it lies. The recognition of those organizations fighters. Which presents an interesting question for EA. What do they do about Fedor’s FA? Does the game get more recognition if he goes to the UFC or stays with Strikeforce? Do they sweeten the pot to push him one way or the other? That is a very interesting question. But, I think, without fail, there will be another EA MMA game.

My personal opinion is that I don’t want them to pull the plug. And honestly, no MMA fan should WANT them to stop making the game unless you’re an EA shareholder. If they make one more game and it’s high quality again, that just means there is another high quality MMA game out there. How much it sells or how much money it loses for EA isn’t my concern as a fan and I don’t understand why some fans think it should be theirs.

Personally, I found EA MMA far superior to Undisputed (which doesn’t make the UFC game bad, jut that I enjoyed EA more). It’s not going to sell a ton of units without the UFC license and that’s not going to change. But that doesn’t mean that I should WANT EA to get out of the MMA space.

but EA fucked up when they turned the UFC down years ago.