Tue, Jun 05, 2012 | 05:52 BST
THQ confirms UFC dev team laid off
THQ’s San Diego studio has been shuttered following the sale of the UFC license – the team’s main concern – to EA Sports.
“THQ confirms that today’s announcement regarding the UFC license transition will affect the company’s San Diego studio,” the publisher said in a statement.
“THQ is working closely with those relevant staff to either find possible employment within the company, or potentially with EA.”
Industry figures have respond to the news with criticism of THQ’s timing of the announcement when it is likely to be swallowed by E3 hype.
6 comments
#1
voxelman
05/06/12, 6:44 am
bummer for those let go, I hope they find employment quickly. Maybe EA will pick a bunch of them up. At the very least it would be much needed good PR for EA.
#2
GrimRita
05/06/12, 8:20 am
Theres lots of jobs going at developers in and around LA, so hopefully most of them should find work. Good luck to them.
#3
The_Red
05/06/12, 1:28 pm
A really tragic story. THQ’s team started the whole MMA Game craze with original Undisputed which sold really well… So sad.
Best wishes for the team and artists.
#4
JeRicHoOL
05/06/12, 1:57 pm
Why didn’t THQ continue with the series? You don’t need a UFC license to make an MMA game. Just add an option for users to rename fighters and such stuff.
#5
TD_Monstrous69
05/06/12, 2:11 pm
Here’s hoping EA is smart, and hires up every last one of the people that THQ San Diego let go. That is, if they want to make a great UFC game. Because last time EA made a game based on Mixed Martial Arts, it was an average-at-best first try, from gameplay to presentation (something that EA Sports has always cut corners on in their sports games, though the new Madden looks like it might be bucking that trend), with an interesting set of social features that were great, but when the game’s average, who cares? It’s like saying you’re the best football player on the league’s worst team, it’s just wasted effort. Though I’m confident EA can pull off a great UFC game, I just hope they learn from the mistakes made with MMA.
#6
GrimRita
05/06/12, 2:16 pm
@4 – they are probably in a contract to churn out these titles on a regular basis and couldnt afford to. This is why EA bring out a FIFA every single year, its part of the contract between them and FIFA.
So to get out, they probably had to sell the licence and contract to the devil.