EA Sports UFC

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EA Sports UFC
EA Sports UFC Cover featuring Jon "Bones" Jones and Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson
Developer(s)EA Canada
SkyBox Labs[1]
Publisher(s)EA Sports
EngineIgnite (PS4, XB1)
Platform(s)PlayStation 4
Xbox One
iOS
Android
Release
  • PlayStation 4, Xbox One
  • June 17, 2014
  • iOS, Android
  • April 21, 2015
Genre(s)Fighting, sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

EA Sports UFC is a mixed martial arts fighting video game developed in a collaboration between EA Canada and SkyBox Labs, and published by EA Sports for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) brand and was released on June 17, 2014. It is the first UFC game since THQ sold the license to Electronic Arts. A downgraded port of the game was released for mobile devices in April 2015.

Gameplay[edit]

EA Sports UFC is a mixed martial arts fighting game based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Its artificial intelligence accommodates for changes in player strategies mid-game to make the gaming experience more realistic than in previous UFC games.[2] The game also simulates "full body deformation" to connect players with their player-character. The Ultimate Fighter is featured at the start of Career Mode. Also included are perks unlocked throughout career to boost game-plans.

Development and release[edit]

Conflict originally arose between UFC president Dana White and Electronic Arts, when the UFC approached EA Sports to develop a UFC video game and EA refused. The UFC then turned to developer THQ to develop UFC titles. THQ's UFC 2009 Undisputed shipped approximately 2 million copies. With the success of the series, THQ quickly began working on a sequel, UFC Undisputed 2010, and followed this release with UFC Undisputed 3 in 2012.[3]

With the growing popularity of MMA (the UFC banner particularly) and THQ's success, Electronic Arts began working on EA Sports MMA, featuring UFC's then promotional rival, Strikeforce. After the closing of THQ, Electronic Arts announced a "multi-year, multi-product" partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012.[2][4] THQ[5] reported that the publishing rights were purchased by EA Sports for an "undisclosed cash payment".[4] The first gameplay for the game was shown at the Xbox One reveal event in a trailer by EA Sports. The game is one of the first to run Electronic Arts's Ignite engine.[2][5]

As a result of the new project, Electronic Arts put its Fight Night boxing franchise on hold.[6] The company said that the decision was based primarily on its perception that the UFC has greater international prominence, although EA Sports did offer that the boxing series could potentially return.[6] The Fight Night team (EA Canada) became the UFC team.[3][6]

A playable demo was released on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Marketplace on June 3, 2014, with cover athletes Jon "Bones" Jones and Alexander "The Mauler" Gustafsson as playable fighters, with the full game releasing two weeks later on June 17.[7] A free-to-play mobile version of the game was released for iOS and Android devices on April 21, 2015.[8]

Roster[edit]

The roster was gradually revealed by EA Sports in batches.[9][10][11][12][13] The final roster consists of 97 UFC fighters (not including DLC additions).[14] UFC legend Royce Gracie[15] and late martial arts icon Bruce Lee[16] are both featured in the game as bonus unlockable fighters. Gracie is playable in the middleweight division, and Lee is playable in bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight and welterweight. A free content update was released for download on July 22, 2014, adding T.J. Dillashaw, Tyron Woodley and Takeya Mizugaki to the roster.[17] On August 26, 2014, EA released another patch that included heavyweight Stipe Miocic as well as welterweights Matt Brown and Mike Pyle. On October 2, EA released their third patch including Tim Kennedy and Gunnar Nelson, and also making Nick Diaz able to switch to the middleweight division. On October 29, EA released their fourth patch including Hector Lombard, Diego Sanchez and Michael Chiesa, and also making Gegard Mousasi able to switch to the middleweight division. On November 19, EA released a fifth patch, this one including Myles Jury, Andrei Arlovski, and Yoel Romero. On December 10, EA released a legends pack, which included Mark Coleman, Matt Hughes, Quinton Jackson and Brock Lesnar. On January 21, EA released a seventh patch, this one including Eddie Alvarez, Holly Holm, Rafael dos Anjos and Anthony Johnson. This was said to be the last major update as they began focusing on the sequel, which was released in spring 2016.

Legacy[edit]

A sequel, EA Sports UFC 2, was released in March 2016.[18] The third installment, EA Sports UFC 3, was released on February 2, 2018,[19] and a fourth title, EA Sports UFC 4, was released on August 14, 2020.

The fifth title of the series, EA Sports UFC 5 was teased on Twitter on July 5, 2023, following that the game to be fully announced in September 2023.[20]

Reception[edit]

EA Sports UFC received "mixed or average" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[30][31]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "EA Sports Co-developer: SkyBox Labs". Archived from the original on September 28, 2014. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c Corriea, Alexa Ray (June 10, 2013). "EA Sports UFC launching next spring for PS4 and Xbox One". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 13, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Sarkar, Samit (May 20, 2013). "EA Sports unveiling UFC game May 21, same day of Microsoft's next-gen Xbox reveal". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Pitcher, Jenna (May 8, 2013). "EA will not release Tiger Woods PGA Tour 15, UFC fighting game before April 2014". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Sarkar, Samit (May 21, 2013). "Next-gen EA Sports titles running on Ignite engine at Xbox One reveal". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved June 10, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c Sarkar, Samit (May 24, 2013). "Fight Night series on hold for EA Sports UFC, says EA Sports boss". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  7. ^ Maiberg, Emanuel (April 6, 2014). "EA Sports UFC coming June 17". GameSpot. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  8. ^ Makuch, Eddie (April 22, 2015). "EA Sports UFC Comes to Mobile, Promises "HD-Quality" Graphics". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  9. ^ "'EA Sports UFC Roster Reveal Part 1'". January 10, 2014. Archived from the original on January 18, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  10. ^ "'EA Sports UFC Roster Reveal Part 2'". February 20, 2014. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2014.
  11. ^ "'EA Sports UFC Roster Reveal Part 3'". April 4, 2014. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  12. ^ "'EA Sports UFC Roster Reveal Part 4'". June 5, 2014. Archived from the original on June 9, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  13. ^ "'EA Sports UFC Roster Reveal Part 5'". June 16, 2014. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  14. ^ "'EA Sports UFC to offer around 100 fighters at launch'". Digital Spy. 10 February 2014. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  15. ^ "'Roll as Royce Gracie'". April 23, 2014. Archived from the original on April 25, 2014. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
  16. ^ "'Bruce Lee'". April 7, 2014. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  17. ^ "'EA Sports UFC - Free content update 1'". July 31, 2014. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  18. ^ "EA Sports UFC 2 Confirmed Details Coming Soon". Archived from the original on 2023-11-22. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
  19. ^ Good, Owen (November 3, 2017). "EA Sports UFC 3 announced for Xbox One, PS4 (update)". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 12, 2017. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  20. ^ "EASports UFC Twitter Account". Twitter. July 8, 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-07-30. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  21. ^ Pack, Ben (19 June 2014). "Review: EA Sports UFC". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  22. ^ Carsillo, Ray (17 June 2014). "EGM Review: EA Sports UFC". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  23. ^ Reeves, Ben (17 June 2014). "EA Sports Makes A Solid First Strike - EA Sports UFC - Xbox One". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 20 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  24. ^ Tan, Nick (17 June 2014). "EA SPORTS UFC Review". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  25. ^ Renaudin, Josiah (24 June 2014). "EA Sports UFC Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
  26. ^ Rudden, Dave (17 June 2014). "EA Sports UFC review". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on 18 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  27. ^ Ingenito, Vince (19 June 2014). "EA Sports UFC Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  28. ^ Gies, Arthur (26 June 2014). "EA Sports UFC review: losing ground". Polygon. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  29. ^ Phipps, Brett (17 June 2014). "EA Sports UFC Review". VideoGamer.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  30. ^ a b "EA Sports UFC for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  31. ^ a b "EA Sports UFC for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
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