When UFC 4 launches next month via the PS4 and Xbox One, and when it finally drops, it will be missing a relatively major mode seen in previous entries. More specifically, EA has confirmed that unlike UFC 2 and UFC 3, UFC 4 will not be shipping with an Ultimate Team mode. While the mode has been a massive moneymaker for EA's other sports games, like FIFA, it apparently isn't seeing the same engagement in the UFC series.

According to the game's creative director, Brian Hayes, the mode has been cut for two reasons. One of these reasons is the fact that MMA is simply not a "team" sport, and thus it just doesn't really fit the model. The second reason is the data reveals that not many players are engaging with the mode, which means resources are better spent elsewhere.

"We see, overwhelmingly, less interest in UFC Ultimate Team compared to other titles," said Hayes. "Lots of people played it and some still do -- but the large majority of our fans prefer to spend their time elsewhere. That fact is loud and clear through our game data and couldn’t be ignored."

Hayes continued:

"Looking at the number of players engaging with UFC Ultimate Team compared to the amount of resources required to develop and support the mode, the math just didn’t make sense. Even to port it from UFC 3 to UFC 4 without any material changes or improvements required significant time and effort, let alone revamping the mode to make it more fun and engaging. So we made the decision to refocus those resources toward new features and updates we hope all our players will enjoy. In particular, the new Connected fighter profile, challenges, progression, vanity rewards and improvements to created fighter features represent the result of our efforts to create something new and unique to EA Sports UFC for all of our players."

Hayes concluded, apologizing to fans of the mode, but promises at least some of this disappointment will be made up by the features and news the team will share about the game in the coming weeks.

UFC 4 is set to release worldwide on August 14 via the PS4 and Xbox One. At the moment of publishing, there's been no word of a PC port. Further, there's been no word of the game coming to the PS5 and Xbox Series X, however, thanks to a recent leak, we do know EA is planning on bringing the title to next-gen consoles.



Posted: Jul 21, 2020 8:15 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/ufc-4-ea-ps4-xbox-one-ultimate-team/