By Sagar V. Mankar 
Steel City Interactive’s boxing video game, Undisputed, has reached a significant milestone, selling over one million units since its October 11, 2024, release. CEO Ash Habib shared the achievement in an interview with VentureBeat, highlighting the dedication of their indie studio and the strong demand for a new, authentic boxing experience in gaming. Published by Deep Silver, Undisputed is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, making it the first licensed boxing game since Fight Night Champion in 2011.
The game has a unique origin story. Undisputed was first announced in April 2020 as eSports Boxing Club but was renamed in September 2022. The journey began as a “side project” for brothers Ash, Asif, and Asad Habib, founders of Sheffield-based Steel City Interactive. With no previous experience in game development, the brothers taught themselves the necessary skills by watching tutorials, researching online, and putting in countless hours to learn coding, animation, and game design.
“We were starting from scratch with no budget and no industry connections, which made it feel like a crazy dream at first.”
Developing Undisputed wasn’t without its challenges, especially in securing licenses for real fighters. Unlike other sports, boxing requires individual agreements with each fighter, as there isn’t a single organization that holds the rights. This made licensing a complex process, but the team persevered, working hard to convince boxing industry figures of the value of digital representation in sports entertainment. Today, Undisputed boasts a roster filled with real-life fighters, many of whom had not been featured in any video game before.
Despite mixed or average reviews—Undisputed holds a score of 73 on Metacritic, with OpenCritic showing that 43% of critics recommend the game—the game has amassed a dedicated fan base. On Steam, it has a 66% rating from over 11,000 reviews, with recent feedback trending negatively as fans await updates and improvements.
In a move to further engage its audience, Steel City Interactive partnered with the World Boxing Council (WBC) to introduce esports elements into the game. Through this partnership, players have the chance to compete in tournaments where they can win physical WBC belts, awarded by WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán.
According to Habib, the one million units sold have exceeded the publisher’s initial projections, highlighting the market’s appetite for a well-crafted boxing game. He emphasized the significance of this milestone, particularly for an indie studio’s first release in a genre usually dominated by major publishers like EA and 2K.
“The way we’ve done Early Access and built our community, and the numbers we were seeing… I was hoping for a pretty good launch. But this is my very first time. I have no benchmarks to compare this against. I could act like a spoiled brat and go ‘a million’s a million, what does that even mean?’ But in real terms, I know it’s a pretty incredible achievement for an indie studio’s first title. And we’ve gone above our forecasts that the publisher had.”
Reflecting on potential acquisition offers, Habib noted that while there has been interest from other companies, the team’s focus remains on fulfilling their original vision of delivering an authentic boxing experience.
For more information, you can read the full interview on Venturebeat. And Remember to subscribe to Gaming Foodle for more news!