It might be a stretch, but fans of EA Sports Fight Night series, or perhaps more pertinently, boxing fans starved of a next-gen game, could see their prayers answered this summer.
Let's start with what we do know: Amazon has listed three new backward compatible games that will be released on June 14, just a day after EA make their annual presentation at E3 2016. One of these games is Fight Night Round 4.
Originally released in 2009, FNR4 was universally acclaimed by critics. It was followed up by Fight Night: Champion in March of 2011, which was also extremely well received. Since then, EA has not released a boxing title, focusing instead on its UFC series.
According to VGChartz.com, Fight Night Champion sold 1.93 million copies worldwide - not mind-blowing figures, but far from paltry. EA's original UFC game was released in 2014 and it sold a combine 1.45 million across the PS4 and XBox One platforms. EA UFC 2 was released earlier this year and has sold 1.05 million thus far, and so should be well on course to eclipse the original title.
But what does the re-release of FNR4 have to do with the prospects of a new boxing title? Well, Brian Mazique of Forbes - though erring on the side of caution - suggests that the level of interest shown for FNR4's digital release could provide concrete data that proves consumers will pay for new boxing content, i.e. EA will finally see financial evidence that boxing fans are crying out for a new pugilistic entry.
What we don't know is whether EA Sports will provide a new Fight Night game, but from June 14th they should at least see evidence to suggest that their doing so would be worthwhile. And who knows? Perhaps they'll reveal something at E3 in three weeks time.
Hat-tip: Forbes
