EA Sports MMA Sales Initially Poor

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EA Sports MMA may be the first and last mixed martial arts game from Electronic Arts. Regular readers will know that it was their attempt to capitalize on the recent booming popularity of MMA, but following disagreements with UFC boss Dana White, they instead had to blow ahead with Strikeforce, another MMA organization. How did EA do? A week after the game’s release, it’s being speculated that sales for the game have been poor and EA may give up the MMA game.

According to comments made by Dana White, the UFC had approached EA about a UFC video game some time ago, but EA turned them down. UFC hooked up with THQ for their video game needs, and following the booming explosion in UFC popularity, EA announced their own game – EA Sports MMA – which further added to the rift between UFC and EA.

With THQ’s ‘UFC Undisputed 2010′ getting mixed reviews and selling worse than it’s 2009, some wondered if there was room for EA to come in with a well-made MMA game. And still. Apparently not. According to a Cowen & Company analyst, sales of “EA Sports MMA” have been awful, with analyst Doug Creutz saying it’s “more or less [dead on arrival] at retail.]

And why will EA give up on MMA? THQ and UFC’s licensing deal only went through this year, leading to speculation that EA may bridge the gap between them and the UFC by giving them a metric ‘lot’ of money. But, THQ and UFC extended the licensing contract, locking EA out of the lucrative UFC contract for years more.

And yes, MMA is not just the UFC. But, specially in the United States, UFC is the most popular MMA sanctioning body and UFC might as well be MMA for a majority of fans. It remains to be seen if EA will go at it against with the Strikeforce license, or just give up, like Cowen & Company believes.