EA has reportedly chosen to move forward with a new UFC game in the place of a new Fight Night game. In the early 2000s, EA’s Fight Night series was one of many massive EA Sports titles. As boxing became less prevalent compared to the rise of MMA sports like UFC, Fight Night began to fade away. THQ held the UFC video game license at first, but once that ship sunk, EA swooped in and swallowed it up for itself. With four entries already under its belt, it has become a steady and successful sports series, but one that hasn’t been annualized like other EA Sports titles.
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Despite the success of UFC, EA was reportedly working to revive Fight Night alongside other sports titles like College Football. According to Tom Henderson, this new Fight Night reboot has been put on ice for the time being as the publisher has chosen to prioritize UFC 5. Henderson was quick to note that this doesn’t mean Fight Night isn’t happening at all, it’s just not happening right now and it sounds as though EA may come back to finish it once it releases the next UFC game. A similar report was made by VGC back in November 2021. The report cited an internal email which stated the next Fight Night game was on hold until UFC 5‘s development was complete. Of course, neither game has been officially announced. EA has an untitled sports game slated for Q4 2022, but hasn’t stated what it is.
With all of that said, it seems like Fight Night is coming back, it’s just a matter of when. Although UFC is still the dominant sport, events like Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather and all of the YouTuber spars have really revitalized the sport on a mainstream level, for better or worse. It’s likely EA has seen this and is making an effort to cash in on this new era of boxing in the video game scene. The last Fight Night game, Fight Night Champion, was made backward compatible on Xbox a few years ago and helped spark new demand for another entry in the series.
Do you want a new Fight Night game? Let me know in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
