Ice-T laments low pay for Def Jam games, gives potential reason for the series' disappearance

There were three games in the Def Jam series: Def Jam Vendetta, Def Jam: Fight for NY and Def Jam: Icon. Two of those titles landed on the GameCube and both wrap and fighting game fans flocked to the titles. It’s obvious those games were considerable hits back in the day, so why hasn’t publisher EA re-released those titles or created a new installment? One feature rapper thinks he knows why.

There are a handful of rappers who have broken out from their rap success to bigger worldwide acclaim, and Ice-T is definitely one of them. While he started out his career rapping, he’s arguably much more well known for the long-running role of Odafin Tutuola on the Law & Order series. Still, without his rap career, Ice-T would have never gotten to where he is now, and his appearance in the Def Jam games was a very notable one.

Over on X, Ice-T saw some fans talking about the Def Jam game series and decided to jump in on the conversation. On the topic of why the original titles never got remakes or re-releases, Ice-T said, “Maybe because they’d have to pay for voice and music rights again.” This isn’t a concrete answer from EA or anything like that, but it definitely seems plausible.

As far as why there hasn’t been a new installment in the series since 2007, Ice-T also had some thoughts to share on that. The rapper said he “didn’t get any type of substantial money” for the games, as, “it was a situation where you didn’t want to be left OUT of the game.” Many of the rappers who appeared in the Def Jam game series are now bigger than ever and Ice-T knows it, saying that, “yesterday’s price is not today’s price.” In other words, it’s going to take some deep pockets to get these rappers to sign off on a new installment!