EA Sports UFC 5 has been officially announced by Electronic Arts. The fifth iteration was long-presumed to be in-development, but during the UFC's tentpole International Fight Week event over the weekend, EA Sports and the UFC made it official. While no additional details were revealed outside of the logo, we know that a full reveal is coming in September of this year.
EA Sports UFC 5 marks the longest gap between entries since the series' introduction. Since the first EA Sports UFC game arrived in 2014, the games have arrived every two years, with UFC 2 arriving in 2016, UFC 3 in 2018, and UFC 4 in 2020. The series has traditionally been developed by EA Vancouver, so that's the expectation with this entry as well, but no official confirmation has been provided by EA one way or the other on that front. EA Sports UFC 5 will also mark the first game in the series to launch since the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S hit the market, so we might be able to expect a leap forward in terms of graphical fidelity and/or performance.
EA Sports UFC 4 launched on August 14, 2020, and introduced various customization options, as well as new grappling and takedown physics, plus a more fleshed-out single-player career mode. EA Sports has also continually updated the game's roster, adding tens of new fighters to the game in the time since its launch, with the most recent free update featuring Jack Della Maddalena, Erin Blanchfield, and Brandon Royval arriving just last week. For more on our thoughts on EA Sports UFC 4, check out our review here.
We'll learn more about EA Sports UFC 5 in September, but in the meantime, what do you hope is fixed, improved upon, or included in the next game? Let your thoughts be known in the comments below!