But there's a problem. With such a huge success in 2009, how does one hope to improve whilst still maintaining all that was good in the series, without making the whole experience feel stale?
That's the challenge that producer Neven Dravinski faced during the development on this year's Undisputed, and he speaks to SPOnG in a rather chipper mood. Confident that this sequel will be the greatest MMA game ever created, I had a chat about the fanbase, rival games from other publishers and meeting UFC president Dana White.
Neven Dravinski: Yeah, a little bit (smiles)! Back when we worked on 2009 we were consciously optimistic of the potential the game had. In fact the first time we realised we had something special was when we let the press play the game for the first time in an event in Dublin. We had [Michael] Bisping come out and fight Dana [White] that day, and I was the only guy from the team that was representing the studio, but it was a real eye-opener.
There was a lot of positive energy at that event, and it was really re-assuring to see people's faces lighting up at the brutal moves on show. It was still early days at the time, but when that translated to game sales it blew all of our expectations away.
You could put the popularity down to the brand recognition of the UFC, but I'd also like to think that we simply created a great game. We built a great base to work on for this year's edition, but when we sat down to talk about 2010 we ended up saying 'Look, we just made, critically, the best MMA game ever made, and now we have to destroy it.'
We had to wipe all of the memory of 2009's success in our heads, because people obviously expect more on the back of it. And I think, without thinking of those pressures, we made a much better game for it. We were able to address complaints that fans had from 2009, and I think we delivered a great follow-up title. And all in a year as well, which is worth mentioning.
Neven Dravinski: Absolutely! I mean, that's just the nature of the beast with annualised titles and a short development cycle, isn't it? Our team is very competitive and hungry though, and a lot of our guys have worked on AAA titles in the past so we know what it takes to make a great game.
We're our worst critics too, which gives us a lot of grey hairs as we constantly stop and ask ourselves, 'Is this really as good as it could be?' It's a blessing and a curse!
Neven Dravinski: We I think we just have a lot of the same sort of principles that great fighting games have. Our designers have worked on games like Mortal Kombat in the past, and have written strategy guides for Street Fighter. The appeal for this game is that it's just a fun experience.
I feel that Undisputed 2010 captures that element of sheer brutality, of going into the cage and fighting for your life. I think we've done impacts very well; that visceral sensation of seeing your fighter getting pummelled and shouting 'Oh wow, I just took it in the face!'
The physics and collision detection was rewritten this year as well, to build on the dynamic we had in 2009. It makes for a game that's easy to get into but difficult to master, and a good representation of real life UFC battles. If you want to win - and win consistently - you have to master all aspects of the game. Standing the ground, getting the clinches and submissions right - so there's a lot of depth in it too.