In a shocking development today UFC parent Zuffa has agreed in principle to purchase struggling rival MMA promotion Strikeforce. The official announcement is expected to come on Monday.

Though EA Sports has publicly vowed to develop EA Sports MMA 2 this news could bury the potential sequel. Strikeforce represented the main branding for the game, the majority of the roster was made up of fighters from the promotion, and the television broadcasts acted as the main marketing opportunity.

What isn’t clear for the time being is how the contracts with Strikeforce as well as individual fighters will be handled. It is possible that the contracts were made for longer than just one year, but if that is the case then the UFC may now own all of them. Obviously the UFC would squash any attempts to use those fighters in a rival game to their Undisputed series.

Needless to say EA Sports’ attempts to work their way into the MMA market may have proven all for naught. That is unfortunate given the quality of the first effort and its potential going forward as well as THQ’s track record when they have the market to themselves. UFC recently extended their exclusive license partnership with THQ through 2018.

(Update) Despite early comments about the two promotions largely acting separately and current contracts being unaffected make no mistake about it, there is now no longterm viability for an EA Sports MMA. That is why they’d be likely to cut their losses sooner rather than later.

While the recent patch for EA Sports MMA caught some by surprise and the company has not stopped there with post-release support. A tuner for the game has been released that affects heavyweight, middleweight, and lightweight classes.

Areas such as stamina drain and regeneration, health regeneration, blocking, and more have received adjustments. This appears to be a significant update to gameplay and early response to the changes have been quite positive. Continue on to check out the full details on what the tuning update provides and leave any thoughts in the comments!

•Blocking now takes priority over parrying. The block effectiveness has been raised so players will be able to block more strikes than before. A missed parry will result in a higher likelihood of stun so use your parries carefully.

•Stamina System has received a major overhaul. Strikes will now drain more stamina than before, however stamina regeneration has also increased. This is done to discourage spamming and encourage more realistic striking combinations.

•Health will regenerate slower than before, especially while blocking. This in combination with the adjusted blocking will require you to be more methodical and plan for a longer fight where you slowly chip away at your opponent.

•A few windows and timers have been adjusted on the ground. You will now have more success knocking people out from positions other than mount and backmount. You will also have to carefully balance when you decide to block, parry, and pass.

•The power of knees and the stamina loss in the clinch upon failed takedowns has been adjusted. We have more accurately captured the devastating power of a knee to the face, but you have to be very careful about when you use this because it requires a lot of stamina.

•Updated all of the fighter records and adjusted a few fighters that needed to be more balanced.

Despite the positive response to EA Sports MMA sales of the game never took off. That could make the determination to continue providing post-release support surprising to some, but with plans to release a sequel EA has chosen not to abandon the fans that have enjoyed the product.

That support goes beyond just continuing to run the “Live Broadcasts” as a second patch is now slated to go live today for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Details below on what the patch addresses:

• Fixed a crash that occurred when editing multiple fighters in Create a Fighter
• Updates to the Live Broadcast tools to improve stability.
• Fixed Stamina exploit bug during Arm submission battles.
• Fighters created using Create a Fighter Attribute Cap exploit can no longer be used online.

There are advantages to being the first entry in a brand new franchise. Chief among them are that expectations are naturally lower and consumers interested in the product tend to be more patient. UFC Undisputed broke onto the scene last year capturing the top game of the year distinction by surprising with its fun factor and polish. EA Sports MMA succeeded as well this year by delivering on accessibility and innovative features.

The ranking of games in the best of 2010 list is based on the personal amount of enjoyment had with a particular title, whether advertised features were fully delivered on, post-release support, community interaction and communication, overall gameplay experience, feature set, and online play performance. Again this is largely a personal take on the games and not a recap of those with the highest scores on Metacritic. The analysis is weighted heavily towards those which I had the most fun with while considering them as a whole and compared relatively to the field.

(Related: Hits and Misses – Sequel Confirmed – There is a Future for EA MMA – Career Mode Impressions - Online Impressions)

Not carrying the UFC license was a major hurdle to overcome and EA Sports did a commendable job by bringing in multiple licenses headed by Strikeforce as well as varied rule sets and offering both the cage and the ring. What ends up being restrictive for UFC meant flexibility for EA MMA. It still made it a tough sell but the expectation was never that the game would be a breakout hit right away and instead the first goal was to establish it as a credible franchise and they were successful in doing so.

After release of the game there seemed to be almost a smear campaign being made by various outlets. Not only gaming outlets but those that cover MMA were trying to bury it. I’m not sure if that is because they wanted to buddy up with UFC since that is where the money is, or if it was just some elitism being displayed against a game that didn’t have the big license. Regardless EA MMA survived, accomplished what it set out to do, and will see a sequel as was always planned.

The controls took some getting used to but eventually they started to click and worked well for the context of the fights whether it be on the feet or on the ground. The consensus though was that the ground game was the superior end of things. The fatigue system was implemented especially well for dealing with transitions and submissions. Fighter ratings really helped to differentiate each guy from the next providing strengths and weaknesses that were best played to. The transition system may have been a little too mechanical though in its success or failure and ultimately may not have been deep enough for players who spent a lot of time working on their skills.

The career mode was strong and delivered on a good sense of variety and customization to tailor fighters to certain strengths. It also did a really good job of teaching how to improve fight skills along the way. Online play was impressive in both features and performance. The light user base though capped the potential and made very compelling features such as Live Broadcast and Fight Cards not terribly valuable in the end.

That one of my bigger gripes was with the game’s load times shows that EA did a great job of eliminating frustrating elements that have plagued games with similar structure. Innovative ideas that combined with accessibility and a fun experience made this one of my favorite sports games of the year. EA Sports MMA had its limitations but did a really good job at delivering on what it needed to and appears to have a bright future.

#4: EA Sports MMA
#5: FIFA 11
#6: Madden NFL 11
#7: Kinect Sports
#8: MLB 10 The Show
#9: NHL 11
#10: NBA Jam
The Biggest Stories of 2010
Community Awards Results
The Worst of 2010
Community Awards Voting

Much of the discussion around EA Sports MMA since its release in mid-October has centered on whether or not the potential franchise would be done after just one release. After a random analyst predicted its demise there came a wave of websites doing the same. It almost seemed as though there was a widespread smear campaign in effect. Instead, looking at the situation objectively, I felt there was reason to believe EA Sports MMA had a future.

In an interview with Figure Four Daily (via Crunchgear) EA MMA producer Jeff Ecker unequivocally stated there will be an EA Sports MMA 2. While Ecker declared it was not a matter of “if” but “when”,  the original plan was to alternate years with the Fight Night franchise. That would put the next EA MMA on schedule to release in 2012.

With UFC Undisputed going to a bi-annual release however and slated for 2012 as well I could see EA Sports bumping MMA to 2013. While I don’t believe UFC coming out earlier this year was a major factor in MMA’s slow sales, more separation from it couldn’t hurt. Regardless it is good news to hear the company is sticking with the product as it was quite impressive for a first attempt and has put some pressure on THQ and their UFC franchise.

Having already detailed the doubling in sales that the NBA 2K series received with 2K11 and the drop-off that Madden 11 is now experiencing that leaves a handful of other titles and their sales to still discuss. It is largely disappointing news even when considering some of the following games didn’t have huge expectations to begin with.

NBA Jam on the Wii sold less than 50,000 copies. Not only is the Wii starting to fade in console sales but it continues to struggle to move third party titles and any hope of ever doing so seems increasingly unlikely. Knowledge that NBA Jam was heading to the 360 and PS3 likely did not affect the sales all that drastically. Releasing it with no online component really hurt perceptions however. This is a game though that could hold well over the holidays as it fits as a good gift and some potential Black Friday sales could make it even more appealing.

EA Sports MMA turned in 45,000 sales in October. I’ve written in detail about how relatively weak sales does not necessarily signal impending doom for the hopeful franchise. This could very well be in line with internal expectations. The question now is whether it can build and pick up decent sales going forward based largely on word of mouth as it doesn’t have the licensing behind it to drive interest. This is another game that will be seeing some big discounts for the holiday season but it remains to be seen if it will catch on even at a lower price point.

NHL 11 is being blamed for part of the decline in overall game sales this year as it appears it has fallen off more sharply than anticipated. This is yet another piece of evidence that the “Online Pass” is possibly hurting long term sales of games. That doesn’t necessarily mean the companies don’t end up making more money on each game however. I’ll be taking a closer look at this in an upcoming article.

WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 saw a big decline from its 2010 release falling 36%. This follows up the big drop of over 50% experienced with UFC Undisputed 2010 that caused THQ to shift that series to bi-yearly releases. So it has been tough going for THQ which has struggled to stay afloat as of late. The curious thing is the company does not plan to back off WWE releases. They will not only continue SvR yearly but are introducing new WWE titles with the plan of having a secondary game out every year along with it.

Overall it has been a down year in sales for sports titles. NBA 2K11, FIFA 11, and MLB 10: The Show stood out as they received large gains. Some others opened up strong such as NCAA Football 11, NHL 11, and Madden 11 but then fell off sharply. Then there were the games that bombed year-over-year like Tiger Woods 10 and UFC 2010. Hopefully these companies are examining the trends and why consumers have supported certain games over others.

A patch for EA Sports MMA is now available for both the 360 and the PS3. The patch attempts to enhance the gameplay experience by working on some balance issues as well as delivering a few other changes.

So far impressions coming in of the patch have actually been largely negative with many feeling it has shifted favor towards stand up fighters. The stamina drain on failed takedowns and when on the ground, the spamming of hooks and body shots, and continued imbalance between the “Total Strike Control” and button control schemes are being cited the most in discussions. Continue on for the full list of patch details and leave any thoughts in the comments!

* Reducing the range and combo speed for hook to hook combos to the body
* Increasing the stamina loss for failed takedown attempts
* Stronger punches in the dominate turtle position
* Enlarged window for denying takedowns from the clinch.
* Adding Head Arm choke to Josh Thomson’s move set
* 10 Point scoring system fixes
* Adjustments to the camera’s in the clinch so they do not sway as much during strikes
* Updated Fighter Records for Gesias Cavalcante, Josh Thomson, Nick Diaz, Ronaldo Souza, Tim Kennedy and Tyron Woodley
* Fix issue where Gamertag for the fighters were not displaying when viewing Fight Replays
* Resolve issues that caused occasional softlocks during online matches

A patch for EA Sports MMA is currently being completed and some details on what is on the way have been revealed. Though there seemed to be no major pressing issues with the game there have been some cases of imbalance particularly having to do with body shots and the effectiveness of the button control scheme when compared to total punch control.  Some of what will be included in the patch is listed below.

• Reducing the range and combo speed for hook to hook combos to the body

• Increasing the stamina loss for failed takedown attempts

• Stronger punches in the dominate turtle position

• Enlarged window for denying takedowns from the clinch.

• Adding Head Arm choke to Josh Thomson’s move set

• 10 Point scoring system fixes

• Adjustments to the camera’s in the clinch so they do not sway as much during strikes

• Updated Fighter Records for Gesias Cavalcante, Josh Thomson, Nick Diaz, Ronaldo Souza, Tim Kennedy and Tyron Woodley

• Fix issue where Gamertag/Online ID for the fighters were not displaying when viewing Fight Replays

• Resolve issues that caused occasional softlocks during online matches

At its current stage the patch will still need to get through final Q&A testing and then certification from Microsoft and Sony. That puts the release of the patch for EA Sports MMA in a potential time frame of early December.

Rolling into a third week of Friday Night Fights with EA Sports MMA brings an extra opportunity. Live Broadcasts featuring representatives from here facing off in a tournament with a few other prominent sites is being coordinated. So if you participate on Friday night, perform well, and are interested in taking part in that it could help your chances of being chosen. Let me know if the Live Broadcast is something you might like to do in the comments along with how much experience you have with the game. Reps for both the PS3 and 360 will be sought out.

Back to the standard fight night for Friday I will set up a Fight Card on the 360 at 10ET/7PT. If you’d like to be involved join into the room at that time. The room holds 10 people but there are only four fights per card. In the case of having a full 10 people please understand that unfortunately I would be placed in the position of leaving two people out of the fights but those who remain are able to spectate.

The expectation is for there to be multiple cards completed again though I’m unsure how many that will be. A recap post will go up on Saturday with results and some videos. If you think you might stop feel free to leave a comment. Also follow on Twitter for any updates along the way.

EA Sports MMA has now been out for two weeks allowing plenty of time to assess what the game has done well and where it fell short. For a first attempt with the launching of a franchise the product is surprisingly polished and contains a deep feature set. Here are what I perceive to be the hits and misses for EA Sports MMA.

Hits

• Accessibility

The controls are not overly intimidating though they do take a while to become second nature and master. The ground game is where the controls are the best and in doing so offer a stark contrast to the competition. Stand-up is not as strong, specifically with the right stick for uppercuts and the use of the right bumper feeling awkward. The option to switch to button control striking is available as well. The submission mini-games are engaging. Overall the controls allow for novices to pick up the game and learn more skills through experience without being overwhelming.

• Career Mode

Check out my full impressions of career mode here. Though not revolutionary in structure many of the frustrations of typical career modes have been removed and there is good variety in being able to build a custom fighter to certain strengths. There is also variety in locales, legendary trainers, and rule sets.

• Online Play

Check out my full impressions of online play here. Performance has been excellent with very little lag having been experienced, in fact most fights feel as though they are being played offline. The Fight Cards feature provides a great deal of fun by making it an event and social experience. Live Broadcast is an innovative feature, a fantastic concept certainly, but there has been a distinct lack of interest towards it.

Created fighters and downloaded fighters can be used online but their ratings are properly balanced. Fighter Share allows for the quick and easy download of many named fighters that gamers may choose to seek out. The “belts” for ranking up based on XP earned gives incentive to keep playing. Saving the last four ranked fights for anyone to be able to watch in their entirety is one of the coolest features introduced in a long time.

• Managing Fatigue

Fatigue has largely been a factor in past fight games by affecting strike power and quickness or slowing down movement. In EA Sports MMA though it is critical to everything that is done. Fatigue plays a role in the ground game, submissions, the clinch, defensively…really in every way imaginable. Skilled gamers will learn how to conserve fatigue and strategically take advantage of opponents who are drained.

• Overall Variety

There is variety in all areas of EA Sports MMA not just career mode as mentioned earlier. Fighters have their own distinct styles with strengths, weaknesses, and special move sets that make each fight feel unique. There are different rule sets, cage or ring, and even Cowboys Stadium included. Flash KOs are not the only way fights end with TKOs, submissions, and even going to the cards always potential outcomes.

Misses

• Loading Times

Check out the loading time evaluation for specifics. The game is plagued by lengthy loading times which inflict themselves in areas such as getting into and out of fights, heading in and out of the main menu, career mode, and different aspects of online play.

• Online User Base

There has been a great deal of discussion centering on low sales for EA Sports MMA. This is most evident by the small base of online players. On release day, throughout release week, and even still the game has delivered low numbers online. Matchmaking often returns the message that no opponents can be found, and when one is located that opponent could very well be someone rated way out of the ranked range that should be competed against. There are often just one or two random fight cards listed and they are not near being full. The lack of online players has rendered the Live Broadcast feature largely ignored.

• Presentation

The overall presentation is far from being terrible but doesn’t capitalize on the full experience. The signature intros are well done however they cut off early and the crowd is an afterthought beyond then. The on-screen graphics look nice however the game falters with the commentary. Replays are also often questionable in what they show and kept very brief.

• Missed Opportunity

EA Sports MMA had the chance to include women’s divisions which would have helped differentiate the product even further from UFC. The overall roster may not have been full of names recognizable to casual fans of the sport but it was filled out well otherwise.

EA Sports MMA is one of the most pleasant surprises of the year. The game is a lot of fun, has limited any issues or exploits, and has some very entertaining and innovative features. Hopefully EA Sports continues to push and innovate as the underdog and produce an even better product with the next edition.