Many people assumed THQ’s financial troubles was the reason why UFC switched to EA. Gamasutra reports it’s because the game failed to break even.
UFC Undisputed 2009 (the first ever UFC game) sold an impressive 3.5 million units. THQ thought they were onto a successful franchise. Sadly, UFC Undisputed 2010 underperformed. UFC Undisputed 3 was supposed to rectify this by adding tons more fighters and modes. Although the game itself was critically acclaimed, it only managed to sell 1.5 million copies since it launched in February.
1.5 million copies may sound like a success, but THQ invested a lot of money into the game. The publisher had to pay for the likenesses for the over 150 fighters in the game plus all of the other licensed products such as clothing among other things. Selling anything less than 2 million copies ultimately meant THQ lost money on the game.
It would be interesting to see how EA does with the UFC license from no on…
