Exclusive EA Sports MMA Interview with Jason Barnes

This week, we got a chance to sit down with Jason Barnes, the creative director for the upcoming EA Sports MMA, from Electronic Arts. Jason was kind enough to answer some questions we had on the game and to shed some light on some other topics for us. We’re pretty big MMA fans at GamesEyeView, and as such are really excited to see how the game handles. Without further delay, let’s get on to the interview:

GamesEyeView: With the UFC Undisputed series already out there and well received by critics, why the decision to jump into the MMA game market?

Jason Barnes: EA is always looking for the right opportunity to add to our sports lineup and the sport of MMA was the right sport for EA.   This includes having the right team and the right tools, pipeline and engine in place.  When we started developing EA SPORTS MMA over two years ago we had a great start, because Fight Night Round 4 laid the groundwork with a great fighting engine.   As we started, we continued to work closely with them while they finished their game.

The team is made up of diehard fans of the sport of MMA.  We have different team members that have trained in some forms of Martial Arts and at the start of the project, a part of the team started training in mixed martial arts at a local school to give us some insight into the fighter’s experience.   Our lead AI game designer Victor Lugo is actually a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Gracie-Barra and our animation director Simon Sherr fought semi-pro kickboxing.

The sales of UFC were not a factor at all in the decision for us to make EA SPORTS MMA, because we were already in development for over 14 months.  However, we were excited to see their sales, because that firmed our belief that there is a big audience for MMA.   The team has also embraced the challenge of having competition and that is great for the fans of MMA.

GEV: What do you think separates EA Sports MMA from the competition?

JDB: When we started the project we had 2 high level goals 1) Make it an EA SPORTS game and 2) help teach the world about the sport of MMA.  Making it an EA SPORTS game means it delivers what the fans expect from an EA SPORTS game.  Make it authentic and true to the sport.    We also recognize that the sport can be confusing especially on the ground.  It has different and new terminology to sports fans and we wanted to make the language of MMA commonplace.

The big gameplay goal was to make sure you always knew why you lost.   It is not about random numbers, but what you are doing with the controller.  If you got flash KO’ed that is because you got nailed by a big shot while your chin was most vulnerable.  If you got submitted, it is because you lost the battle.  And we had big goals for the ground game itself.

One of the goals from the very start of the project was to make sure the ground game was not just a button mash battle, but a strategic battle.  We often referred to the ground game in particular as a chess match.   We really wanted to capture the idea that position improvements on the ground are set up by strikes and getting great opportunities to strike can be made by making your opponent worry about position changes and submission attempts.

With that being said the core of our gameplay balance is strike vs. grapple.  Where you want the fight to take place is a huge part of the sport of MMA and we needed to capture that and we feel that we did.  You can set up your takedowns with strikes.  By making your opponent so worried about striking that he is covering up you will then create the opportunity to take him down.

The ground game has really evolved during the development of the game from different fight strategies being applied by the development and testing team.  Faking strikes on the ground became a huge part of the strategy as we played the game more.  Our best gamers on the team got so good at parrying strikes on the ground when they were mounted that we needed to make faking strikes play a bigger role and make the defending fighter pay the appropriate price for parrying the wrong way.

Surviving mount by giving up your back at the last second and then turning back to mount has become a huge part of the strategy on how to survive.  If you can survive these dominant positions long enough to get to half-guard then you have a chance at finally pulling guard and that opens a whole new wealth of strategies.  Once in guard, should the fighter on his back look to just survive and stall long enough for the referee to stand them up?  Or should that grounded fighter go on the attack with submission attempts or even a sweep?

When you have a dangerous submission fighter like Aoki or Jacare strategies change altogether.  If you are fighting against them and you are going to take them to the ground then you’d better make sure you don’t get caught in their guard.  We have guys on the team that will stand up from the top position from half guard if they are fighting one of these dangerous submission fighters.

GEV: If someone’s not into watching MMA, what do you think should sell them on EA Sports MMA and do you think this game can be a gateway for new fans of the sport?

JDB: I definitely think this can be a gateway to the sport for several reasons.  We deliver a fair and balanced gameplay experience that should be able to draw in pure fighting game fans, but more importantly we have made a conscious effort to help teach gamers the sport of MMA.   We ease people in the sport and the game in career mode and hammer home the language of MMA through tutorials and training.

We have an on-boarding process in career that has you start out with just learning how to do stand up striking before giving you an amateur fight. For your fighter and the AI we intentionally lock out the ability to clinch and take the fight to the ground.  This is to ensure that you get comfortable with stand up striking before moving to clinch.  We then teach you how to fight in the clinch, but keep the ground game locked out.  We then finally teach you the ground game.   During this training we display the position you are in the top of the screen to constantly reinforce the terminology.  And the best part is all of this training is done by none other than Bas Rutten.

By slowly easing you into the game while you experience awesome knockouts and intense submission battles we feel like we are going help create more fans of the sport.

GEV: How much input have actual MMA fighters had in the gameplay?

JDB: We have consulted with the fighters Mauro Ranallo and Big John McCarthy throughout the entire process.    They have all been incredible.  They are all proud of the sport and wanted to help make a great video game.

Big John has so much knowledge and he was so helpful.  He gave us so much insight into the sport.  We actually emailed him our scoring system for the judges to give us feedback.

With each of the fighters that came into the office we reviewed the game with them and took their feedback.  We always had a series of questions.  Several fighters came into the office multiple times just because they wanted to see the progress of the game.

When Jacare came to the studio he showed us some video of footage of his training and then asked to roll with someone on the team.  That was when gameplay Designer Victor Lugo, purple belt in BJJ from Gracie Barra stepped onto the mat.  Jacare showed his chaining of submissions and by the end of the day we had a prototype then within a week we had motion capture and then put in game a week later.  That was an incredible experience for everyone on the team and not just Victor.

Cung Le offered to do motion capture. We jumped at that chance and got him in the suit.  His kicks were so powerful. It was awesome.

Those are just a couple of the stories from the many that we have.

GEV: Who’s your favorite fighter to use when you play?

JDB: Of course I like playing with my Created Fight Jason Barnes.  The lead gameplay tester Mark Taylor and I have epic battles daily and we always pick the fighters and rule set at random.  However, if I wanted to get the victory then I am going to fight with Mayhem Miller.  He is dangerous  on his feet and on the ground.

GEV: Initially there was a lot of static coming from specific avenues of the MMA community about EA jumping into the pool. How did you deal with that?

JDB: We got involved very early on with the gaming and MMA community.  We know how valuable the community is… several team members have posted on forums and answered the community directly.  We also did community events where we brought in a select number of community members to get direct feedback on the game several months before our alpha period.

GEV: Any plans for DLC fighters? With the deal with STRIKEFORCE…might we expect MMA sweetheart Gina Carano in the future or others womens fighters?

JDB: We did discuss female fighters for a very long time.  We have respect for anyone who steps into the cage.  Ultimately, we give you a lot of creative freedom with our Create-A-Fighter.  We want you to be able to create dream matchups.

GEV: With such a wide variety of arenas available to fight in, what went into making these environments, and how does it effect gameplay?

JDB: Cage control is important.  Don’t get pinned against the cage.  We do several things to give the aggressor in the cage or ring advantages.  If you are backed up against the cage/ropes you cannot dash backwards to escape.  When you’re clinched up against the cage/ropes you have disadvantages in changing position and doing takedowns.  This allows you to fight like Couture.  Press someone against the cage and break them down before taking them down.

Besides gameplay being different the presentation changes based on the venue too.   The bigger the venue the bigger the preflight presentation and of course the crowd changes based on the size too.

GEV: Can you talk a little bit about the exciting new online elements? What prompted this unprecedented approach to the online portion of the game?

JDB: We wanted to give the gamer something they have never seen before with EA SPORTS Live Broadcast.  Our fans are incredible gamers and we wanted to give them a chance to show off how good they are at games to the world.  We also wanted features that we know fans of EA SPORTS have wanted for years.

Besides seeing highlights you can scout your opponent by watching his last 5 ranked fights in their entirety.  That excites me as a gamer.

Our Belt Race mode really rewards the gamer for just playing the game.  You gain experience for just fighting, earning you belts and eventually a title shot.  We also have an advanced match making system to make sure you fight an equally experienced opponent.  Belt Race was really inspired by the goal of making sure everyone has a good time playing online.

And then there is Fight Card.  We recognize that gamers want to go the “lab” (a term created by the Madden community for practicing over and over again to become the best gamer they can be) and with Fight Card we provide them an opportunity to do this.

What I am really excited about is how our gamers will be able to use Fight Card to maximize their skills.  Fight Card will allow up to 10 online gamers to fight in 4 different fights under any rule set.  The best part about this feature is that all of the gamers can watch any fight and discuss the fight during the fight on their headsets.  I see gamers turning on Vale Tudo rules, which is an epic 1 round 20 minute battle and just breaking down the game and working on their techniques and strategies.

GEV: How was the MMA talent to work with, particularly guys like Couture and Fedor?

JDB: Couture stressed to us in the beginning that he wanted to help us make a great MMA game.  Every time he came into the office he reviewed the game and we spoke about the sport in general.  It was an honor to work with him.

I did not meet Fedor, but everyone tells me he has a great sense of humor.

GEV: Can you talk to us a little bit about the total strike control scheme and what went into making it successful?

JDB: With Total Strike Control we had a great base with Total Punch Control.  With the initial prototype we made a few changes to make Total Strike Control feel different and more accurate to the sport of MMA.   We changed the uppercut motion to be a more distinct motion, added the ability to kick with a modifier and of course added the spinning back fist.

We actually play tested several different configurations for the kick modifier and other modifiers before going with our final control.  We also reworked the exact control with spinning back fist and spin kicks based off of the playtesting.

Playtesting helped make Total Strike Control feel right, but the most important thing we did was make the control consistent whether on the ground, in the clinch or standing up.  The consistency allows anyone to have immediate success playing the game, even for the first time.

GEV: For those out there with other MMA games, what one feature should/will make them go out and pick up EA MMA?

JDB: Gameplay.  Gameplay is king.  We believe we have delivered the most accurate representation of the sport and a fairly balanced risk reward fighting system.  Oh yeah, soccer kicks and head stomps are fun as hell to do, too.

GEV: What’s next for the team now that the game is by and large ready to go?

JDB: We are testing our networks making sure we are ready to go day 1 with a great online experience.  We also set up a system that will allow us to tune gameplay without patches.  So we are reading the message boards about the demo and getting ready to tune the game further based on community feedback.

GEV: Any future plans you’d like to talk to us about today?

JDB: Not at this point.  I just hope everyone has a good time playing EA SPORTS MMA!

We’d like to thank Jason Barnes for sitting down with us.  We’re looking forward to getting our hands on EA Sports MMA even more now, and we’re hoping that you all are too.