If you’re looking to settle an argument over a fantasy match-up in your favourite sport, video games are a good way to do it.
For football fans there’s EA FC, basketball’s got NBA 2K, and F1 games have been keeping petrolheads happy for years.
But that’s not been the case for boxing. Until now.
The sport’s been under-represented in gaming since heavyweight Electronic Arts rang the bell on Fight Night – its seminal boxing simulator – in 2011.
It changed course to focus on UFC, leaving a gap in the market for a dedicated, high-profile boxing series.
Now independent studio Steel City Interactive, based in Sheffield, is hoping to put the sport back on the digital map with Undisputed.
They’re off to a good start – Tyson Fury, who appears on the special edition cover of the game – has been talking it up ahead of his big fight against Oleksandr Usyk.
Both appear in Undisputed as part of a 70-strong roster that includes legendary fighters past and present.
It’s taken four and a half years to get there, and studio head Ash Habib – who founded the company with his two brothers – says the game’s humble roots were a long way from the bright lights of a main event fight.
“It literally started with [retired boxer] Ryan Rhodes coming to my house sitting in my living room, showing him this concept that we’d created in a couple of months,” says Ash.
“He was like: ‘I’m down for this, I want to get involved.
“And that obviously opened up some doors.”
Ash says Ryan and other boxing industry contacts helped him to get the game in front of other fighters who also liked what they saw.
From there, the development team managed to broker deals to include some of the boxing world’s top talent, using motion capture and digital scanning to create lifelike versions for the game.
It’s sparked a healthy interest in the game from boxing fans, drawn in by Undisputed’s promise of an authentic, realistic recreation of the sport, similar to the Fight Night series.
This has allowed Steel City to attract investment and grow to a company of about 70 people, based in a office next to one of Sheffield’s huge manufacturing plants.
Ash says the anticipation for the game has been great for the team, but admits it’s been “kind of a bit of a poison chalice as well”.
“Because there’s not been a boxing game for such a long time there’s obviously a huge amount of expectation and, I guess, excitement for the game,” he says.
Undisputed has been available on PC for a while as an early access game, where players can get their hands on an in-progress version before the official release and provide feedback on bugs or gameplay features they want to see polished or added.
The game has a vocal community of fans, and over recent months there’s been mounting concern about a perceived lack of progress.
Ash acknowledges that many have made “valid points” and accepts that the pace of updates hasn’t been as quick as the studio would have liked.
But he insists the devs have taken feedback on board.
“You know, one thing I’ve learned is that game development isn’t easy, when you see it from the outside,” he says.
“And then when you actually have to see what’s involved, it’s a different ballgame.
“I think where we are now with the game, we’re incredibly happy with the changes we’ve made.”
The other challenge facing developers today is the state of the games industry, which has seen thousands of layoffs globally and studio closures.
It’s hit especially hard at the top end of the industry, with some of the biggest names such as Microsoft and EA among those making huge cuts.
But smaller studios like Steel City have also faced problems.
Ash says the studio has received “huge support” from the boxing industry, which has made it less reliant on the gaming industry for investment.
Because of that he says it was important for the game to “give back” to the sporting scene, and one way it’s done that is by including up-and-coming boxers.
One of those is Dalton Smith, a 27-year-old pro from Sheffield who’s been involved with the Undisputed project from an early stage.
Dalton says sports having a dedicated video game helps to keep fans engaged, and can even get them interested in trying the real thing.
He thinks boxing will benefit if Undisputed takes off.
“The other biggest sports have got their own games, and they’re building each year,” he says.
“And it’s just bringing eyes to those sports. And, you know, whether it’s UFC, boxing, football, they’re going to be probably playing each game, and it all goes back to inspiring the young.”
Now Undisputed has an official October release date, Ash and his brothers’ dream of making their own boxing game is almost realised.
But he admits there’s a lot of work still to do.
“I guess there’s pinch me moments,” he says,
“You know, just sitting having dinner with Oleksandr Usyk or joking around with Tyson Fury is pretty nice.
“But at the same time we’ve got a pretty big thing to deliver here.
“So we’re all grounded and making sure that we’re delivering what we set out to do.
“And that’s the only thing I care about really, making a boxing game.
“That’s what I want to do. Anything else outside of that’s a bonus.”
