The UFC has irrevocably altered the sports world—now it’s time to do the same for the world of video games.
The realm of sports video games has become stagnant and boring.
Fans are treated to what is virtually the exact same game each year with the most important difference being a roster update (and if it’s a good year, a quasi-improvement on game play mechanics).
EA Sports’ Madden NFL franchise has mastered this miscarriage of innovation and game developing. It’s the same Madden game year in and year out. There’s hype about new tackle animations and what athlete will be on the cover but, generally, the “new” game each year is average at best.
So far, the UFC hasn’t indicated that it’s falling into the same trap. UFC Undisputed 3 was a marked improvement over their previous video game and added many features and improvements.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t a true innovation that shook foundations of the video game world the same way the UFC shook the foundations of the sports world.
The only UFC video game capable of doing that would be a UFC MMORPG.
What’s an MMORPG? It’s an acronym for “massively multiplayer online role playing game”—a game like the ever-popular World of Warcraft or the more recent Star Wars: The Old Republic—although it’s usually just abbreviated as MMO.
The game can be structured like this:
Each individual player is an MMA fighter. Players can form groups called “Fight Teams” or perhaps “Training Camps” that are analogous to “Guilds” in World of Warcraft.
Players “train” with their training partners and fight equal level fighters in Player vs. Player combat. Enough wins can earn players sponsorships which, along with fight purses, will help them earn money.
Eventually, when a player earns enough money they can visit MMA gurus such as Firas Zahabi, Renzo Gracie, Greg Jackson, Randy Couture and many others to brush up on their various skills.
And, once a high enough level is reached and enough wins are achieved, players can battle each other in the UFC for the most meaningful 12 pounds of gold in the world—a UFC title.
The idea is still a bit rough around the edges (I’m no game developer) but the premise could work and work beautifully.
Just as the UFC forever changed martial arts and combat sports, a UFC MMO that emphasizes competition between players and actual skill at the game over grinding for gear and XP would revolutionize the MMO and video game world for the rest of time.
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