Demetrious Johnson, a former mixed-martial arts champion who fights in the UFC, recently provided insight into how the promotion’s stars are paid for the use of their likenesses in EA Sports’ video games. According to Johnson, the more players use the fighter, the more that star will get paid.
In a video clip shared on X, Johnson says he once received a check for $25,000 to appear in the EA Sports UFC series, which launched in 2014.
Demetrius Johnson explains how fighters are paid through UFC games:
“The more you guys use a character, the more that fighter gets paid!” pic.twitter.com/Iv0ZG2DKuX
– Combat ESports Media (@CombatESportsM) 9 May 2024
This is an interesting claim because the Ultimate Fighting Championship artists are part of a group license that gives Electronic Arts the rights to use them in their MMA games. It is also unusual because $25,000 is much more than most are paid to players in other sports, including professional football, the National Football League and the National Basketball Association – under group licensing arrangements.
Johnson was Cover star for EA Sports UFC 3’s “Icon Edition”Which was launched in 2018.
Johnson says he was given an email from Electronic Arts that mentioned “substantial telemetry data from player usage” indicating “fan engagement and fighter popularity” that resulted in the payment.
It is also interesting because most athletes appear in sports video games under group licenses sold by their player associations or unions. (UFC competitors are contracted and represented by the league itself). While some athletes cut individual deals (especially in the case of deals that appear on box covers of games) most take a standard royalty check distributed through their union.
The other interesting detail is how the payment was based on game telemetry, giving gamers an idea of how much EA Sports, and therefore other publishers, know about their preferences and tendencies in video games.
EA Sports UFC 5, the latest game in the series, launches in October 2023 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series
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