Last year, THQ’s UFC Undisputed was a breakthrough hit, raking in the moolah for the publisher. Obviously, this year’s edition, UFC Undisputed 2010, was expected to perform at least similarly, if not better. However, sales for the newer game have been shockingly low, and there have been several explanations propounded to explain the disparancy between projected sales and actual revenue.
Speaking to trade magazine MCV, THQ’s UK marketing director Jon Rooke talked about the various factors as to exactly why the latest UFC game, generally received well by the critics, could have sold so poorly. As per him, Rockstar’s western open world epic, Red Dead Redemption, is largely to blame for the same.
“Our sales were softer than where we would have liked them to be. We know our UFC and MMA fans have bought it, but we haven’t delivered the broader sales yet.
“That’s largely down to Red Dead Redmeption. Rockstar have probably taken a fair amount of our market share. They shipped 5m units, taking a lot of consumer dollars.”
Rooke also admits that there was a change in market conditions that probably caused lower than expected sales for the game. More specifically, the month of May has always been slow for software sales. However, this year, UFC had its task cut out for it, with many other major titles releasing in the same time frame, including Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2, ModNation Racers, Alan Wake and Prince of Persia: Forgotten Sands.
“Last year, we had the perfect storm,” Rooke said. “This year Rockstar did. That’s not to say our sales were in any way disappointing. We still managed to ship 2.6m units, which is a fantastic achievement, and that figure is still growing.
“And we’ve got a long tail with that product. We absolutely believe we will deliver our initial sales expectations for UFC and the 2010 edition has been a phenomenal success.”
UFC Undisputed 2010 released in May earlier this year, retailing for the PS3 and the Xbox 360.