THQ extends UFC rights until 2018
THQ's rights to the UFC license will remain Undisputed until 2018. The publisher announced today that it has extended its "exclusive, worldwide agreement" with Zuffa, LLC to create games based on the ultimate fighting franchise for the next eight years. The agreement grants THQ the option to create games for all consoles, PC, handhelds, mobile devices and social media. We can't wait to see someone gift us a "Punch in the Junk" on Facebook.
The deal's price tag wasn't shared publicly. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter guesstimates: "[THQ] pay a percentage of sales against a minimum guarantee. My guess is that it's a 15% license, and that the guarantee is around $10 million a year."
The UFC license has been good to THQ, despite the decline in sales for the franchise's second iteration. THQ's current strategy to combat potential annual fatigue is to give the series a "longer development cycle," which means the next installment is expected to arrive sometime in the second half of 2011 at earliest.
