Publisher THQ has made a big move in order to preserve one of their most popular franchises. THQ has purchased the rights to the UFC license putting a submission hold on the competition until the end of 2018. Similar to EA’s acquisition of the NFL license some years ago, THQ is now the sole publisher of Ultimate Fighting Championship games on all consoles, web apps and platforms. The publisher purchased the rights from Zuffa, LLC for an undisclosed amount, but most industry analysts estimate something in the ball park of over ten million dollars a year. The second Undisputed title did suffer from disappointing sales earlier this year, but THQ hopes that a longer development cycle will remedy the issues without having the pressure of releasing a new Undisputed title every year.
