EA Sports MMA Press Conference Recap
by Robert Sargent
Adding to a roster that already includes the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Electronic Arts announced today that former UFC Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight Champion Randy "The Natural" Couture will be part of their "EA Sports: MMA" video game.
The announcement came at a press conference this afternoon where EA Sports President Peter Moore discussed the game and answered questions regarding its development.
The UFC has publicly blacklisted any fighters that sign on to be a part of the EA Sports game, but Couture became involved with EA during a hiatus from the UFC and is excused from the ruling. The UFC's game, "UFC: Undisputed 2009," is currently a hot seller and has done well for the company since its release.
"EA Sports: MMA," which is in its second year of development, is currently targeted for a 2010 release. Along with Couture and Emelianenko, other fighters involved in the game include past and present champions Gegard Mousasi, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Jay Hieron and Tim Sylvia, as well as Strikeforce stars Benji Radach and Tim Kennedy. Sengoku standout Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal has also confirmed that he will be a part of the cross-promotional game.
Moore expressed his desire to create the most realistic game possible, including fighters and competitions from around the world. It has not yet been decided whether fights will be contested inside a ring, a cage or a combination of both (depending on the bout's location). The potential for having multiple arenas to compete in is intriguing.
When the topic of the UFC was brought up, Moore expressed great respect for everything that the UFC has accomplished, but felt that there were many areas that EA Sports could focus on in order to capture the essence of the sport. He clarified that he had no knowledge of past UFC allegations that EA Sports had told the UFC that "MMA isn't a real sport." These alleged comments stem from failed negotiations between the UFC and EA Sports from some point within the past three years.
Moore could not speak for past executives at EA Sports, but stated that no one at EA had made comments like those alleged by the UFC during his time with the company. Regardless, Moore is focused on the future and preferred not to discuss the past.
With Electonic Arts's lengthy history of successful sports games, it will be interesting to see what impact "EA Sports: MMA" has on the video gaming market in 2010.
