Highlights
- EA Sports UFC 5 has been revealed, featuring an M rating for violence and exciting additions like Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali in the Deluxe Edition.
- The previous UFC games struggled with capturing the essence of MMA combat and lacked features, but UFC 4 improved gameplay. Sales, however, dropped compared to its predecessor.
- UFC 5 will have stylistic changes, including the shift to an M rating, allowing for blood, violence, and mature language. The game will also include bonus fighters like Fedor Emelianenko and Muhammad Ali, and feature popular MMA fighters like Israel Adesanya.
EA Sports UFC 5 has officially been revealed and its announcement trailer features some exciting confirmations, including that the game has an M rating for violence. Also confirmed are several big-name fighters included with UFC 5's Deluxe Edition, like Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali. While gameplay for UFC 5 has yet to be revealed, this is an exciting unveiling for a fighting game based on the world's most popular MMA promotion.
A fighting game franchise based on the UFC seems like it should be a massive success, but with four games previously released EA's UFC series is still trying to find itself. The first UFC game was released in 2014, followed by UFC 2 and 3 in 2016 and 2018, respectively. All three games received disappointing review averages, in part due to struggles capturing MMA combat's mix of striking and wrestling, but also due to a lack of features. 2020's UFC 4 improved gameplay meaningfully, but saw sales drop compared to its predecessor. EA hasn't released a UFC game since.
The UFC franchise is returning in 2023 with the release of EA Sports UFC 5. The latest game in the UFC franchise is making some key stylistic changes, as confirmed in the reveal trailer. The biggest change is the franchise's shift to an M for Mature rating. Previous games in the UFC franchise targeted a T for Teen rating, which may have contributed to disappointment. UFC 5's M rating allows for the blood and violence fans expect from the UFC, as well as more mature language and themes in UFC 5's career mode.
Also confirmed in UFC 5's reveal trailer is that the Deluxe Edition of the game will feature two additional fighters. First is Fedor Emelianenko, an incredibly popular MMA fighter who's never actually competed in the UFC before. To see him in a UFC game is shocking, to say the least. The second character in UFC 5's Deluxe Edition is legendary boxer Mike Tyson. Tyson has 44 knockouts in his professional record, though he doesn't appear to have any MMA experience.
A third bonus fighter has also been advertised for UFC 5, available for those who pre-order the game. That fighter is Muhammad Ali, the legendary boxer and activist. Ali did notably have an exhibition bout against professional wrestler Antonio Inoki that has been described as foretelling the arrival of standardized MMA. Ali is included with pre-orders of both UFC 5's standard and deluxe editions.
UFC 5 will of course be packed full of the MMA promotion's own contracted talent, too. The debut trailer shows off combat from Israel Adesanya, Valentina Shevchenko, and Alex Volkanovski. Many more fighter reveals, as well as a gameplay reveal, will be shared in the near future. UFC 5's October launch isn't far off, after all.
EA Sports UFC 5 releases October 27 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
