In what might be the biggest shocker of the show so far, EA Sports revealed that the company has now scored the exclusive rights to create games based on UFC. After years of it being one of the biggest franchises for THQ, the most popular MMA company has now sided with EA Sports. Showing that Dana White had buried the hatchet with a company he said that once turned down the UFC, he talked biug about his excitement over the UFC brand joining the stable.
Above: A trailer for January's UFC Undisputed 3
For UFC fans, this probably came as a massive surprise, as THQ just published its fourth YFC game months ago, but it seems that the struggling publisher lost one of its biggest franchises. No gameplay was shown, so it might be some time before we see the actual game that results from this. For now we’ll just dream of the possibilities of this undeniably exciting new partnership.
UPDATE: THQ has responded to the news with a press release describing how UFC made the switch. THQ gave up the franchise to Electronic Arts for an undisclosed amount of money, meaning it wasn't a case of EA Sports snatching the UFC out from under THQ. Instead THQ let it go perhaps to gain some much needed capital. Will grabbing the cash and giving up the right to make another UFC game pay off for THQ? Only time will tell.
