EA Sports revives boxing game Fight Night following UFC 4 success

EA SPORTS previously produced a classic boxing computer game titled Fight Night. Fight Night series has been on a long break but it looks like EA sports wants to unretire the game.

According to Video Games Chronicle, sports lovers will have to wait since producers are currently focused on the next UFC release, which is set for later this year.

The renowned platform game’s most recent iteration, Fight Night Champion, was released in 2011. This game was playable on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and iOS devices.

Despite the positive reception to Fight Night Champion, the series was put on pause. The developers were focusing its efforts on developing games for the officially licensed UFC property. In 2020, EA Sports extended a licensing deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship – for the next 10 years. The UFC pact is an exclusive agreement extending to 2030, the companies said in a news release.

UFC license previously belonged to THQ. EA Sports took over the UFC license in 2012, publishing its first EA Sports UFC game in 2014 and three more since.

One huge figure in boxing will be pleased to see the classic return: promoter Eddie Hearn. He has already tweeted to EA Sports, requesting that the popular boxing game be re-released.

He also stated that EA Sports had reacted by “looking into” his request.

The Fight Night series, which last saw a release in 2011 with Fight Night Champion, was generally well-received by reviewers, with Metacritic ratings in the mid-to-high 80s for all five installments.

It’s been reported that during the last decade, difficulties in licensing the likenesses of the world’s top boxers and the rising costs of doing so prompted EA to concentrate on the UFC – because they could reach a blanket agreement for all of its fighters.

However, there have been requests for the series to return from both fans and the boxing community, and EA is aware of the desire.

The release date for EA Sports Fight Night 5 is presently unknown.