THQ sold UFC license after failing to break even
Analyst Michael Pachter hears the news from THQ management
Latest reports suggest that failure to make a profit was the main reason behind THQ's sale of its Ultimate Fighting Championship license to EA.
Gamasutra reported that Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter was informed of the reasons for sale by THQ management. It confirmed the latest title for the franchise UFC Undisputed 3, which had shipped 1.4 million copies by May 20 this year, did not break even.
It explains the sale of the license to EA, which has published its own MMA title in the past. In fact, in 2009 the publisher was engaged in a war of words with UFC president Dana White.
"EA Sports told us, 'You're not a real sport. We wouldn't touch this thing. We want nothing to do with this,'" said White in July 2009.
"We put our asses on the line, THQ and the UFC, to make a video game deal in the worst economy in the world," White added. "We go out there and do this thing, and it's successful, and now [expletive] EA Sports wants to do a video game. Really? That's not what you told us a year-and-a-half ago.
"You told us you'd never be in business with us. They wouldn't even take a meeting because mixed martial arts disgusted them. This wasn't a real sport. Boy, they got over that real quick, didn't they?"