Revealed over four years ago as eSports Boxing Club, there’s been a lot of hype for Steel City Interactive’s fully licensed boxing video game, and now, it’s finally out in the world. Having been in Steam’s early access since January 2023, people have been able to test and showcase Undisputed for a while, but on October 11, 2024, it finally released in full on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
On the one hand, it’s clearly done well commercially, with legendary boxers and many of the current greats being scanned into the game for what is a very aesthetically pleasing experience. However, there are issues with the gameplay and multiplayer elements. Now that news has filtered through, via GameRant, that the first update won’t come until mid-December, questions are being raised as to whether the full release was too hasty.
Official Licence Does a Lot of Heavy Lifting
There hasn’t been an officially licensed boxing video game since Electronic Arts’ Fight Night Champion in 2011. The company that makes over $1 billion each year from EA Sports FC in-game purchases decided to side with making UFC games over boxing games at the time. It left a huge space in the market that simply wasn’t filled. A lot of this is down to the intensely fragmented nature of the sport.
This isn’t to say that licenses aren’t available. Boxers will license themselves out for many different things, and even one of the four major governing bodies has been open to this. You can see the WBC stamp on the new Undisputed game and in its official slot. Found at PeerGame, the crypto casino that doesn’t require registration, you’ll find the BGaming-made WBC Ring of Riches, the officially licensed boxing slot.
Just as WBC Ring of Riches is eye-catching to the millions of boxing fans around the world, so too is the WBC Edition of Undisputed. The two variants of the game feature Tyson Fury or Sául ‘Canelo’ Álvarez, and in the game, there’s also Katie Taylor, Claressa Shields, Oleksandr Usyk, Muhammad Ali, Terrence Crawford, and Frank Bruno. Still, on release, with people paying full price, it’s clear from user reviews that an official license can only go so far.
Sharks May Be Circling Boxing Gaming Again
On Steam, Undisputed’s total and recent review scores at the time of writing were mixed from over 14,000 in total. This will dissuade many from buying into the game in the crucial opening month, but it’s clear that enough people crave a boxing game that they dove in anyway. It’s been reported by GameSensor that the game collected around $3 million from 100,000 copies sold during early access, so the developers weren’t struggling for funds.
Add to that the massive $19 million pumped into Steel City Interactive after a funding round in May 2024, and the team clearly has the resources to knuckle down and improve Undisputed. News of there being a two-month delay from the release of a game mostly criticized for its broken mechanics will certainly hurt the game’s reputation. In terms of Steam players, in the two weeks of launch, the concurrent count ranged from 3,800 to 800.
For now, Undisputed is still the only officially licensed boxing game out there, and it would take quite some time for a competitor to emerge. Still, seeing the sales figures, number of reviews, and investment in the developers, there isn’t any doubt that Electronic Arts is assessing its options now. So, Undisputed needs to get its fixes out quicker and send copies of the updated game out to reviewers to get improved reviews in circulation.
Undisputed is far from perfect, but it’s the best licensed boxing game out there right now. The hope will be that the additional income from the release of the full game will be pumped into improving the experience before players lose interest or a challenger enters the ring.