The Deep Silver-published and Steel City Interactive-developed boxing sim Undisputed is garnering increased attention ever since reaching the 1 million copies sold mark – and according to the CEO of Steel City Interactive, it’s about to get even more with its future debut on the Esports stage.
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The first boxing sim video game to reach mainstream appeal since 2011’s Fight Night Champion (and the first such sim to be produced ever since the MMA-focused EA Sports UFC stepped up to fill the ‘realistic fighting itch’), Undisputed’s indie origins begin with in Sheffield, England, where Steel City Interactive was founded in 2020 by brothers Ash, Asif and Asad Habib, who per the studio’s bio came together “around the idea of creating the first major, new boxing game in over a decade.”
Despite the brothers having no prior game development experience before stepping into the ring, since the game’s reveal in 2021 and subsequent release in 2023, boxing fans have been unified in their opinion that Undisputed is a heavyweight contender that can stand among the likes of EA’s previous, fan-favorite titles.
Thanks to the game’s quality, more than just fans, it has also caught the attention and endorsement of numerous boxing related entities, including one of the sport’s main four regulating bodies, the World Boxing Council, who in particular sponsors official Undisputed tournaments.
To this end, while speaking with GamesIndustry.biz about the game’s success, Steel City Interactive Co-CEO Ash Habib confirmed that the realm of Esports was going to play a very pivotal role in Undisputed‘s future, telling the outlet, “Esports was part of the original vision for the game.”
Turning to how the competitive fighter now has the player base needed to sustain a healthy amount of community engagement and subsequently hold small competitions around the world, Habib explained that despite the game’s popularity, “I didn’t want the esport element to feel like a bolt-on or something that needed doing separately.”
“With that in mind, we partnered with the WBC, where there will be an esport element where you can actually win a physical WBC belt, given by Mauricio Sulaimán, who is the president [of WBC] himself,” he said. “So esports is in our plans, and will form a big part of Undisputed.”
This is exciting news for fans of Undisputed, whether they decide to participate in the competitions themselves or simply be in attendance when belts are handed off to the champions.
However, whether or not Steel City Interactive can secure Undisputed‘s place in the Esports market will be out of their hands, as more than just popularity, the game’s standing will rely on its ability to both build hype among and gain acceptance within the fighting game community (FGC).
A massive group of fans who salivate at the idea of perfecting combos and watching the best in the world virtually duke it out, it’s going to take some serious effort to ingratiate Undisputed into their culture, as even though the game is technically a ‘Fighting Game’, its more realistic aesthetics and controls (combined with its admitted lack of fantastical characters and art styles) leave it on an island unto itself.
Should the game hope to have a future in esports, Steel City Interactive will need to find a way to grow its viewership and hype among this specific demographic. Without this essential step, it is quite likely that any official competitions may not garner worthwhile attention and consequently have no audience.
Take Arc System Works’ Dragon Ball FighterZ for example. Entering the market as an underdog, its impeccable gameplay and stunning presentation sparked a swell of fighting game aficionados to push for its inclusion in any and all fighting game competitions.
As a result, in the same year it was released, it managed to he game even managed to take the place of Capcom’s Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite at the 2018 Evolution Championship Series (arguably the biggest fighting game event in North America) due to popular demand.
While this is the ‘easy’ path for Undisputed to reach the mainstream esports success that its developers have in their crosshairs, it should be noted that the chances the game will be able to take this route are disheartening, particularly because, as noted above, such ‘sport sims’ titles have never been included with the FGC scene.
Combine this fact with how many consider EA to currently have a monopoly on the genre, and it may not be too out of the question that the boxing game could squeeze its way into a big competition somewhere down the road. Alternatively, Steel City Interactive could go with their original plan of producing their own competition.
EA, for example, went with the latter, partnering with both Sports Illustrated and The UFC to found the The Esports Fight League (ESFL) for both EA Sports UFC 4 and EA Sports UFC 5.
However, it’s yet to be known how successful this league has been in terms of viewership, sponsorships, and overall income – and in light of the recent flopping of the Overwatch League and Ubisoft’s newest ‘competitive’ game XDefiant, there does exist a good chance that EA’s own endeavor will give the company a rude awakening.
To this end, because of the giant risks inherent in launching such a league, it’s also possible that Steel City Interactive and the WBC may err away from going all in on a new endeavor and instead choose to either link-up with a pre-existing competition circuit or wait and see how Undisputed‘s popularity fares in coming months.
The way I see it, with hard work, smart business, and some luck, Undisputed has a real shot of entering the competitive esports market and one day handing out golden belts on the digital stage.
