Former UFC Champion Explains Odd Way EA Pays For Fighter Likenesses

Highlights

EA Sports UFC games allegedly pay fighters based on in-game popularity, not just flat fees for their likeness, according to Demetrious Johnson.
Demetrious Johnson received $25,000 from EA for being in the UFC game.
Every time a player selects a fighter in EA Sports UFC, that data is used to determine fighter popularity.

Former UFC Champion and current ONE Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson has given gamers an insight into how Electronic Arts allegedly pays fighters for their likeness in video games such as EA Sports UFC 5.

Shortly after the UFC rose to fame in the 90s, the very first video game based on the popular MMA brand became a reality with the release of ‘Ultimate Fighting Championship’ for the Dreamcast, Game Boy Color, and the PlayStation. Featuring the likes of famed MMA stars Bas Ruten, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, and many more, Ultimate Fighting Championship was the start of a long line of MMA-based video games.

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While the most popular MMA video game of the modern day is EA Sports UFC series, the UFC and EA didn’t get off to a great start. In 2010, EA released ‘EA Sports MMA’ for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and iOS. The development and subsequent release of this MMA video game led UFC president Dana White to “declare war” with the publisher, as reported by MMAJunkie.

After EA refused to partner with the UFC, the promotional company would then go on to team up with THQ and release UFC 2009 Undisputed. Flash forward to today, and EA and the UFC have repaired their relationship and frequently work together on new EA Sports UFC titles. The latest entry, EA Sports UFC 5, was released just last year.

Since release, EA Sports UFC 5 has reached 98% parity with the current UFC top-10 rankings, according to a blog post by EA. With new fighters being added all the time, many would assume that these fighters receive a flat fee for their likeness. But that’s apparently not the case, according to former UFC Champion Demetrious Johnson.

UFC Fighters Get Paid By EA Depending On Their Popularity In-Game

In a clip shared by X (formerly Twitter) user Combat eSports Media, ONE Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson explains what goes on behind the scenes when it comes to EA using fighters’ likenesses for video games.

“There is no money in it whatsoever,” Johnson said in regards to signing away your likeness to video game developers such as EA. The mixed martial artist then showed an email he received from EA back in 2015 that stated “sufficient telemetry data from player usage has been collected to ascertain fan engagement and fighter popularity.” The email then went on to state that Demetrious Johnson was being rewarded with a payment for his popularity within the video game.

Johnson then said that the very first payment he received for being in the UFC video game was $25,000. While this might not sound like much, Johnson explained that he was more than happy with the figure. “$25,000 for not getting punched in the face, $25,000 for just being in a video game,” the fighter said.

As for how EA determines which fighters are the most popular and thus worthy of payment, Johnson explained that every time a player selects a fighter, be it online or offline, that data is sent back to the developer for them to keep track of.