THQ extends UFC rights until 2018
10
THQ's rights to the UFC license will remain Undisputed until 2018. The publisher announced today that it has extended its "exclusive, worldwide agreement" with Zuffa, LLC to create games based on the ultimate fighting franchise for the next eight years. The agreement grants THQ the option to create games for all consoles, PC, handhelds, mobile devices and social media. We can't wait to see someone gift us a "Punch in the Junk" on Facebook.
The deal's price tag wasn't shared publicly. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter guesstimates: "[THQ] pay a percentage of sales against a minimum guarantee. My guess is that it's a 15% license, and that the guarantee is around $10 million a year."
The UFC license has been good to THQ, despite the decline in sales for the franchise's second iteration. THQ's current strategy to combat potential annual fatigue is to give the series a "longer development cycle," which means the next installment is expected to arrive sometime in the second half of 2011 at earliest.
The deal's price tag wasn't shared publicly. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter guesstimates: "[THQ] pay a percentage of sales against a minimum guarantee. My guess is that it's a 15% license, and that the guarantee is around $10 million a year."
The UFC license has been good to THQ, despite the decline in sales for the franchise's second iteration. THQ's current strategy to combat potential annual fatigue is to give the series a "longer development cycle," which means the next installment is expected to arrive sometime in the second half of 2011 at earliest.
Reader Comments (10)
Posted: Oct 19th 2010 11:12AM RobertCarr said
WOOOW now we have another game thats gona come out ever year with very little improvments
Posted: Oct 19th 2010 11:13AM thisredengine said
As a HUGE fight fan, I'm crying tears of joy now.
Posted: Oct 19th 2010 11:15AM dcy123 said
really hope they don't do another next year 10 was more refined than 9 but this just needs some DLC with a new game every other year.
Posted: Oct 19th 2010 12:05PM BeatFreaker said
@RobertCarr
Where do you get that from, did you completely overlook "longer development cycle," THQ doesn't want a repeat of sales they encountered with 2010 so I would expect them to fully take the time to iron out everything, especially now there is a competition title on the market.
With the AI proficiency suffering greatly in 2010, along with a slew of online issues, I assume THQ will do everything to prevent that from happening with the next version. I really hope they choose the 18-21 month cycles so they can iron out any major issues encountered during the development cycle. Plus it allows you to add the level of polish needed.
Where do you get that from, did you completely overlook "longer development cycle," THQ doesn't want a repeat of sales they encountered with 2010 so I would expect them to fully take the time to iron out everything, especially now there is a competition title on the market.
With the AI proficiency suffering greatly in 2010, along with a slew of online issues, I assume THQ will do everything to prevent that from happening with the next version. I really hope they choose the 18-21 month cycles so they can iron out any major issues encountered during the development cycle. Plus it allows you to add the level of polish needed.
Posted: Oct 19th 2010 12:50PM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said
@BeatFreaker
This is still THQ we're talking about. I'll eat my non-existant hat if they come out with anything other than a bunch of box-cover bullet points which sound great in theory but don't completely work right
Reply
This is still THQ we're talking about. I'll eat my non-existant hat if they come out with anything other than a bunch of box-cover bullet points which sound great in theory but don't completely work right
Posted: Oct 19th 2010 2:19PM Kunikos said
@ccc THQ isn't 2K, right?
Posted: Oct 19th 2010 5:57PM SolidSnakeEyes said
Disappointing, I didn't like the THQ game and I don't know if EA would be any better but this kinda cements the fact that I won't be buying any UFC games til at least 2018. I don't think THQ can revamp the game enough to get me interested, I don't really think it's possible to turn MMA into a good game.
Posted: Oct 19th 2010 6:22PM Lerkero said
Guess they wanted to complete this deal before seeing the reception of the EA Sports MMA
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