EA Sports MMA 2 sunk by Strikeforce sale?

By Fred Dutton Published 14 March, 2011

UFC owner snaps up rival league.

The future of EA Sport's fledgling MMA franchise looks bleak after the UFC brand snapped up rival operator Strikeforce, upon which the publisher's 2010 brawler was based.

Pastapadre reports that UFC parent Zuffa has today bought struggling Strikeforce, with an official announcement due on Monday. Seeing as the majority of fighters in EA Sports MMA were tied to the Strikeforce brand and THQ holds the UFC license, it is unlikely that EA can go ahead with its planned sequel.

EA's answer to THQ's UFC Undisputed series launched on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 back in October, picking up a solid 7/10 from Eurogamer's Matt Edwards. However, it failed to deliver a knock-out blow at retail.

"EA's recently released MMA appears to be more or less DOA at retail, while UFC recently announced an extension of its license with THQ, likely putting an end to EA's efforts to expand into the mixed martial arts genre," said Doug Creutz of Cowan & Company soon after release.

Despite that, in December EA pledged that a sequel was indeed in the works. We've contacted EA for clarification on what the project's status now is and will update if it responds.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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