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Will Mike Tyson play a role in the potential success of EA Sports UFC 2?

By on @pastapadre

What at one time was considered to be the next huge sports gaming franchise, taking the place of boxing, has instead languished as an also-ran. UFC, and MMA games in general, have struggled to capture a wide audience outside of one anomaly. There are no indications that a turnaround will come anytime soon if ever.

That has become more apparent in the years since the release of the first and only UFC game to capture a mainstream audience – THQ’s UFC 2009 Undisputed. Sales numbers have plummeted since then, dropping significantly with each subsequent release of a UFC product. It’s startling to consider the first month of 2014’s EA Sports UFC moved only about 27% of what UFC 2009 did. The sales struggles have mirrored a decline in fan interest in the UFC since then but there are other factors at play – some which can be corrected and other’s that can not.

Bruce Lee’s presence did little to nothing for EA UFC and now Mike Tyson is being brought in to try and get the attention of consumers with UFC 2. Despite there being value to his addition to the roster there’s little reason to think being featured will have any sort of lasting impact.

Today’s video covers the current state of UFC in the gaming marketplace and whether Mike Tyson being on the roster will at all influence sales.