UFC 4 Creative Director responds to calls for Fight Night return

EA SPORTS have a long history in combat sport games and the release of UFC 4 is just the latest. In an interview with Dexerto, Creative Director Brian Hayes revealed – internally – he and others are pushing for a Fight Night return. 

Fight Night was the biggest boxing game around back in the day. It was a place where the heavyweights collided, new careers were formed, and a journey to the big time could be forged for your created character. However, their 2011 title Fight Night Champion was the developer’s last foray into the boxing scene.

In 2020, nine years on, certainly heavyweight boxing has been put back on the map. The division has some of the best boxers in a generation, like Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, who will both be available to play with in the next UFC game.

Joshua is the poster boy of the UK scene and a battering ram, while Fury has managed to attain mainstream appeal even across the pond, landing multi-appearance deals with the WWE.

Could a Fight Night return be on the cards?

It makes sense in terms of appealing to a casual audience, to have these boxers included. However, many have been wondering why were they picked and what it means for the future of Fight Night.

In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, Hayes told us: “At the end of the day, we want to put fighters in the game that more people want to play with as much as possible.

• Read More: Apex Legends publisher teases Titanfall 2 sequel coming “down the road”

“There’s no guarantee that Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are going to be them. But they’re pretty popular heavyweight boxers and heavyweight boxing is certainly making a resurgence these days so I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re used quite often as well.”

He added: “I get Twitter DMs fairly consistently asking me if there’s a Fight Night, when is Fight Night. Obviously, I have fond memories and a long history with the Fight Night franchise. Internally I have banged the drum as much as I can. But I’m just one man – not that I’m the only one, there’s other people besides me that are banging the drum also.

• Read More: FIFA 21 won’t include VAR and makes big celebration changes

“There’s a lot of things that go into kicking off another iteration of Fight Night but I will keep banging the drum as long as I have arms to bang, and drums to bang them with.”

He made clear that he’s virtually powerless in terms of making a decision on that front, but would definitely support a revival of the game. Whether or not that will come to fruition is unknown, but in the meantime we’re getting a few of the biggest boxing stars in UFC 4. That will have to do for now.

UFC 4 releases on August 14 on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC platforms.