Seemingly out of nowhere, EA Sports has announced that UFC 5 is in development. UFC 4 was recently added to Xbox Free Play Days for Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Live Gold subscribers to try, and in hindsight, it seems the move was no coincidence.EA Sports' UFC series began back in 2014, 21 years after the MMA organization was first founded. Ever since, the games have remained popular, although the lack of traditional seasons as seen in most sports has meant that EA Sports hasn't had to release games on a yearly basis, as it does with its other titles such as FIFA and Madden NFL. As a result, the studio is able to take its time with the UFC games, with the last one being released back in August 2020. EA Sports confirmed the news on Twitter, revealing that the game is "coming soon." Beyond that, the video announcing the game revealed next to nothing about the title except for its logo. However, the tweet did state that a full reveal of UFC 5 will be coming in September 2023, so it seems that gamers don't have too much longer to wait until the next iteration of the franchise is unveiled. It was rumored back in 2021 that EA was preparing to start work on UFC 5, and given the timeline it looks as though those rumors were completely correct in hindsight.
Despite the release date for UFC 5 not being confirmed, it's possible that the franchise's past could hold some hints to what gamers can expect. UFC 4 was confirmed in July 2020, only a month before its eventual release. UFC 5's September reveal means it won't be as fast a release this time around, but it goes to show that EA Sports is not afraid to drop the game soon after its reveal. Going longer than three years without a release in the series would be surprising, so it's likely that players can expect UFC 5 at some point later this year.
Up until now, the UFC games have generally been small iterations upon the last, slowly building toward the perfect mixed martial arts video game. The series hasn't exactly had significant competition, given the UFC remains by far the most popular MMA promotion in the world. That said, speculation will now surely begin about what the sequel will contain. For example, it'll be interesting to see who is chosen to be the UFC cover athlete this time around. It's a sport that moves fast, with rising stars emerging all the time, so it could be anyone.
UFC 5 is in development.