Why Was Poe Pushed to the Outside After Years of Supporting Boxing Video Games?

There is something about my relationship with the boxing video game industry that I have struggled to understand for years.

How does someone go from campaigning nonstop for the return of boxing video games, connecting developers with boxers, brands, industry contacts, and potential opportunities, to eventually feeling like he has been pushed to the outside?

That question becomes even harder to ignore when I look at what happened with SCI and Undisputed.

This is not about me believing that a company owes me employment, money, a position, access, or special treatment. It is about trying to understand how a relationship that began with mutual respect appeared to change so dramatically.

Before Undisputed Became What It Is Today

Long before Undisputed reached consoles, long before the major marketing campaigns, boxer announcements, content creator events, sponsorships, and wider industry recognition, I was already campaigning for the return of a serious boxing video game.

I had been doing it for years.

When many boxing fans believed another major boxing game might never happen, I kept talking about it.

I kept writing.

I kept building wishlists.

I kept discussing mechanics.

I kept reaching out to companies.

I kept talking to boxers.

I kept trying to demonstrate that a real market still existed for boxing games.

And when SCI appeared, I did not look at the company as competition or something I needed to protect myself from.

I wanted them to succeed.

I was going out of my way to send developers, brands, boxers, and other potentially useful contacts in their direction.

And I would have done the same thing for almost any serious company trying to build a boxing video game.

My goal has always been bigger than one studio.

I want boxing properly represented in video games.

An Early Conversation With Ash Habib

Early in SCI's development, Ash Habib contacted me.

During a phone conversation, Ash told me that he respected what I had been doing for boxing video games for all those years.

One statement in particular stayed with me.

He essentially acknowledged that I had continued campaigning for a boxing game when many other fans had given up.

That meant something to me because this was never some temporary interest.

I had been fighting for this genre for decades.

At that point, it felt like SCI understood what people like me represented.

Not just customers.

Not simply content creators.

But boxing people and longtime boxing gamers who had spent years trying to explain what had been missing from the genre.

The Scan Conversation

There was another conversation that eventually became part of this story.

Ash told me that I was going to be scanned into Undisputed.

This was something I later confirmed numerous times through conversations with people connected to the studio.

I did not invent the idea.

It was something that had been discussed.

Eventually, however, it disappeared.

There was no scan.

There was no real explanation that satisfied the questions surrounding what changed.

And from my perspective, the relationship with the company also began feeling different around that period, particularly after personnel changes inside the organization.

I am deliberately not naming certain individuals because this article is not about making unsupported accusations against a specific employee.

People within the community have their own theories about when and why SCI's direction changed. Some have associated that shift with people who previously worked for major publishers, including EA.

I cannot independently prove that any particular employee caused SCI to change its approach toward me, nor am I claiming that as established fact.

But I can describe what I experienced.

The Strange Part Is That I Didn't Really Care About Being Scanned

This may sound strange considering everything I just wrote, but being scanned into the game was never the most important issue to me.

Would it have been cool?

Absolutely.

Would it have meant something after supporting boxing games for so many years?

Of course.

But that was never why I supported SCI.

I cared far more about whether they were going to build the boxing game many of us believed ESBC could become.

I wanted realistic boxing.

Authentic boxing.

Different boxer identities.

Meaningful footwork.

Inside fighting.

Clinching.

Realistic defense.

Proper punch mechanics.

Ring positioning.

Boxer tendencies.

Boxer capabilities.

Traits.

Mannerisms.

Ring IQ.

Realistic stamina.

Proper vulnerability.

A meaningful corner system.

Realistic knockdowns.

Realistic referee interaction.

A deep creation suite.

CPU versus CPU.

Customization.

Options.

Sliders.

And systems deep enough that boxing knowledge actually mattered.

If SCI had delivered the boxing experience I had spent decades campaigning for, being scanned into the game would have been a footnote.

That is what people sometimes misunderstand.

This was never primarily about Poe getting something from SCI.

It was about boxing getting something from SCI.

Then Something Else Started Happening

Another thing began bothering me.

Content creators who once communicated with me regularly seemed to become increasingly distant.

People who used to talk openly with me suddenly appeared more cautious.

Interactions changed.

Some relationships became noticeably colder.

And naturally, I began asking myself why.

Was it because I became increasingly critical of Undisputed?

Was someone telling creators to keep their distance?

Were creators concerned that publicly associating with one of SCI's strongest critics might hurt their access to the studio?

Were people worried about invitations, early information, interviews, tournaments, trips, partnerships, or other opportunities?

Or was it simply a collection of unrelated personal decisions?

I do not know.

And that distinction matters.

I am not going to state that SCI officially ordered anyone to stop communicating with me unless evidence proves that happened.

But I am absolutely entitled to ask why relationships changed so dramatically.

Criticism Should Not Erase Years of Support

This is where the entire situation becomes uncomfortable.

When SCI needed support, I supported the existence of the project.

When the boxing video game genre needed attention, I was there.

When opportunities appeared to connect people, I tried to connect them.

When I knew boxers, developers, brands, or other people who might help move boxing gaming forward, I tried to open doors.

But supporting a company does not mean promising never to criticize its product.

That is not support.

That is public relations.

I was never hired to become SCI's public relations department.

My loyalty is to boxing and to the possibility of creating the best boxing simulation possible.

If something looks unrealistic, I am going to discuss it.

If a mechanic does not properly represent boxing, I am going to explain why.

If something that existed in the original ESBC vision disappears, I am going to ask what happened.

If the community is told something that appears inconsistent with what players are experiencing, I am going to question it.

That should not make somebody an enemy.

Boxing Experience Changes How You See a Boxing Game

There is another uncomfortable reality surrounding criticism of boxing games.

Not everyone evaluating these games understands boxing at the same level.

That does not mean their opinions are worthless.

But perspectives are different.

Someone who has boxed can notice things that an ordinary player might overlook.

Foot positioning.

Weight distribution.

Range.

Punch trajectories.

Defensive responsibility after punching.

The relationship between the lead foot and rear foot.

Balance.

Hip rotation.

Shoulder position.

Punch recovery.

Inside positioning.

How a boxer closes distance.

How somebody exits after throwing.

How fatigue changes technique.

How pressure is applied without simply walking forward throwing combinations.

These details matter.

So when I criticize something, I am not necessarily criticizing it because I dislike SCI.

Sometimes I am criticizing it because I recognize something that does not resemble what happens inside an actual boxing ring.

A company making an authentic boxing game should want those conversations.

Was Poe Blacklisted?

That brings us back to the uncomfortable question.

Was I blacklisted?

I cannot present that as a proven fact.

I have never been shown an internal SCI document saying, "Do not work with Poe."

I have never seen an official company directive ordering content creators to stop talking to me.

Without evidence like that, it would be irresponsible to present blacklisting as established fact.

But I can say that from my perspective, something changed.

Relationships changed.

Communication changed.

Opportunities changed.

A previously discussed scan disappeared.

People who once interacted regularly became distant.

And that change seemed to become more noticeable as my criticism of the game's direction increased.

Those facts, experiences, and timelines are why I continue asking questions.

If Criticism Makes Someone Untouchable, There Is a Larger Problem

The larger issue is not even about me.

It is about what kind of community boxing video games are going to have.

If developers primarily surround themselves with people who praise them, what happens to legitimate criticism?

If creators believe that being too critical could cost them access, what kind of feedback reaches developers?

If longtime boxing people are considered difficult simply because they challenge unrealistic mechanics, who is protecting authenticity?

That creates an echo chamber.

And echo chambers are dangerous for sports games.

A boxing game needs people willing to say:

That doesn't look like boxing.

That mechanic doesn't make sense.

That boxer doesn't move like himself.

That defensive system is too generic.

That stamina system encourages unrealistic behavior.

That punch animation ignores proper mechanics.

That feature existed before. Why was it removed?

Those are not attacks.

Those are development questions.

I Was Never Campaigning for One Company

This is something I want to make extremely clear.

I have never wanted SCI to be the only boxing developer.

I want competition.

If EA wants to return with Fight Night, I want to see it.

If 2K and Visual Concepts want to build a boxing game, I want to see it.

If Dimps is developing something serious, I want to see it.

If an independent studio develops something revolutionary, I want to see it.

If another publisher approaches boxing differently, I want to hear its vision.

Competition benefits boxing fans.

So when I sent contacts toward SCI, it was never because I had pledged allegiance to SCI.

I was trying to help boxing gaming.

I would help another legitimate project tomorrow if I believed it was seriously trying to push the genre forward.

The Irony

The irony is that someone can spend decades asking companies to make boxing games, help promote the genre, introduce people, generate ideas, create thousands of concepts, keep discussions alive during periods when virtually nobody was making boxing games, and still eventually become viewed as a problem because he refuses to stop criticizing what he believes is wrong.

Maybe I became inconvenient.

Maybe my expectations became uncomfortable.

Maybe I asked too many questions.

Maybe companies would rather communicate with people who are easier to manage.

Or maybe some of what happened has explanations I have never been given.

That is exactly why I continue asking.

I Don't Need Everyone to Agree With Me

Developers do not have to agree with every idea I write.

Content creators do not have to agree with me.

SCI does not have to agree with me.

Players certainly do not have to agree with me.

But disagreement should be handled through discussion.

Show me why the mechanic works.

Explain the design decision.

Demonstrate why something cannot be implemented.

Tell the community what tradeoffs were necessary.

Have serious boxing conversations with people who understand the sport.

Do not simply isolate the people asking the hardest questions.

Because sometimes the person irritating you today is pointing toward the problem your customers will complain about tomorrow.

My Goal Hasn't Changed

I am still campaigning for the same thing I was campaigning for before SCI existed.

A boxing video game that respects boxing.

A game where strategy matters.

A game where boxer identity matters.

A game where styles matter.

A game where boxing intelligence matters.

A game where casual players can enjoy themselves without forcing every player into simplified arcade mechanics.

A game deep enough that people can spend years learning it.

A game capable of showing younger players why boxing is called the sweet science.

SCI was once one possible path toward that goal.

It was never the goal itself.

So whether a company invites me into the room, keeps me outside of it, scans me into a game, ignores me, agrees with me, disagrees with me, or considers me too critical, I am going to keep discussing what boxing video games can become.

I was doing that before Undisputed.

I was doing it while Undisputed was being developed.

And I will continue doing it after Undisputed.

Because this was never only about one game.

It has always been about boxing.

This framing makes the article stronger because it asks hard questions without presenting an unverified company-wide “blacklist” or one employee’s alleged influence as proven fact. It also keeps the central argument where you wanted it: your relationship with SCI changed, but your real priority was always the realistic and authentic representation of boxing, not personal access or being scanned into the game.

 A deep boxing game does not require every player to interact with every system manually. The Blueprint can exist underneath the experience while presets, assists, automation, tutorials, and difficulty profiles control how much of it the player actually sees.

“The Blueprint Is Too Much” Is a UX Problem, Not a Simulation Problem

If a developer looks at my Boxing Videogame Blueprint/Wishlist and says, “This is too much. Casual players will be overwhelmed,” my response is simple:

You are confusing depth with mandatory complexity.

I am not proposing that every person who buys the game should have to understand hundreds of attributes, tendencies, capabilities, traits, mannerisms, tactical systems, sliders, physics variables, judging rules, career-management systems, or advanced boxing concepts before they can throw a jab.

Most of those systems should be working underneath the game.

That is what good game architecture is supposed to accomplish.

A casual player should be able to:

• Pick Muhammad Ali.

• Pick Mike Tyson.

• Select a difficulty.

• Choose a few basic options.

• Enter the ring.

• Start boxing.

Nothing about a deep simulation prevents that.

The difference is that underneath that simple experience, Ali should actually behave like Ali and Tyson should actually behave like Tyson.

Their movement should be different.

Their punching mechanics should be different.

Their defensive reactions should be different.

Their preferred ranges should be different.

Their stamina profiles should be different.

Their balance should be different.

Their ring IQ should be different.

Their vulnerabilities should be different.

Their tendencies should be different.

Their signature techniques should be different.

Their reactions to pressure, damage, fatigue, distance, positioning, and tactical adjustments should be different.

The casual player does not need to understand the architecture creating those differences.

They only need to feel them.

That is the entire point.

Complexity Should Be Optional. Authenticity Should Not Be.

A great boxing game should have layers.

A beginner may select:

Quick Play → Boxer → Difficulty → Fight.

Another player might adjust:

Simulation / Hybrid / Arcade

A more experienced player might change:

• stamina

• damage

• referee strictness

• judging

• vulnerability

• counter windows

• defensive assistance

• footwork assistance

• clinching

• inside fighting

• movement assistance

• injury frequency

A hardcore boxing player might open the advanced settings and customize dozens or even hundreds of variables.

Those players can all be playing the same game.

That is not bad design.

That is scalable design.

Think About Modern Cars

A driver does not need to understand fuel injection timing, transmission management, traction-control algorithms, ABS calculations, differential behavior, engine management, suspension geometry, or hundreds of sensor calculations to drive a car.

The systems are still there.

They make the car better.

The driver simply interacts with the controls they need.

A boxing videogame should work the same way.

The player should not have to understand the WeightTransferController to feel when a boxer throws a punch without properly setting his feet.

They should not need to understand the vulnerability system to notice that walking directly into a counter right hand is dangerous.

They should not need to read a database of tendencies to recognize that an opponent keeps slipping outside the jab and countering.

They experience the result.

The simulation handles the calculation.

Casual Players Actually Benefit From Deeper Systems

Depth can make the game easier to understand because the results become more logical.

If I:

• throw while badly off balance,

• repeatedly attack from the same angle,

• exhaust myself throwing power punches,

• leave my body exposed,

• move directly into an opponent's power hand,

• continuously back straight toward the ropes,

• switch stance without being skilled at it,

the game should respond naturally.

A player does not need a boxing degree to understand:

“I keep doing this and I'm getting punished for it.”

That is how casual players learn boxing.

The game teaches through consequence.

Removing realistic systems does not necessarily make a game accessible.

Sometimes it simply makes the game less understandable.

If identical punches produce wildly inconsistent outcomes because the underlying mechanics are shallow, the player cannot determine what they did wrong.

That creates frustration.

Give Players Presets

This is where accessibility belongs.

Imagine opening the game and seeing:

Beginner

More defensive assistance, easier stamina management, simplified controls, broader timing windows, stronger tutorials.

Standard

Balanced experience with most simulation systems active.

Simulation

Full boxer differentiation, realistic stamina, positioning, vulnerability, damage, officiating, movement, inside fighting, clinching, and tactical consequences.

Custom

Everything adjustable.

Now nobody is being forced into anything.

The casual player has an entry point.

The hardcore boxing fan has depth.

The competitive player can establish standardized rulesets.

The content creator can build unusual match conditions.

The offline player can customize an entire boxing universe.

Everybody wins.

Sliders Are Not Just for Hardcore Players

Sliders are often treated like some frightening technical feature.

They are actually one of the easiest ways to avoid forcing one philosophy on everyone.

Don't like realistic stamina?

Change it.

Want easier blocking?

Change it.

Want extremely dangerous counterpunching?

Change it.

Want classic 15-round boxing?

Create that ruleset.

Want modern championship boxing?

Select that preset.

Want an arcade-style knockout festival?

That can exist too.

The mistake is removing simulation systems because some players may not want them.

Build the systems.

Then give players control over how strongly they are expressed.

The Blueprint Is a Systems Library, Not a Mandatory Checklist for the Player

When someone sees hundreds of ideas in the Blueprint, they may imagine hundreds of buttons.

That is not what I am proposing.

I am describing the simulation model.

Consider boxer identity alone.

A boxer could internally contain:

• Attributes

• Traits

• Tendencies

• Capabilities

• Mannerisms

• Signature Techniques

• Ring IQ variables

• Physical geometry

• Athletic characteristics

• Defensive preferences

• Punch mechanics

• Movement preferences

• Psychological tendencies

The player does not have to configure all of these.

Real licensed boxers would already have them.

A casual Create-A-Boxer player might choose:

Style: Pressure Boxer

and the game generates a sensible profile automatically.

A more experienced creator might choose:

Pressure Boxer → Educated Pressure → Body-Oriented Counter Pressure

A hardcore creator could open Advanced Editing and individually adjust everything.

That is progressive disclosure.

Games have used this design philosophy for decades.

Simple on the surface.

Deep underneath.

Create-A-Boxer Is Another Example

I want an extremely deep creation system.

That does not mean someone should need 45 minutes to create their first boxer.

You could provide:

Quick Create

Choose:

• body preset

• face preset

• hairstyle

• trunks

• stance

• boxing style

Done.

Then offer:

Advanced Creation

where someone can adjust:

• skull shape

• shoulder width

• torso proportions

• arm length

• neck dimensions

• muscular distribution

• posture

• stance

• guard

• foot placement

• punch mechanics

• individual techniques

• mannerisms

• tendencies

• capabilities

The existence of Advanced Creation does not hurt the person using Quick Create.

It gives the game longevity for everyone else.

Do Not Design the Entire Sport Around the Least Experienced Player

This is where sports games sometimes make a serious mistake.

Accessibility should mean:

“We provide a comfortable way into the sport.”

It should not mean:

“We remove the sport's depth so nobody has to learn it.”

Those are completely different philosophies.

Boxing itself has tremendous depth.

Distance management.

Timing.

Positioning.

Rhythm.

Feints.

Traps.

Punch selection.

Weight transfer.

Angles.

Foot positioning.

Guard manipulation.

Inside fighting.

Clinching.

Counterpunching.

Ring generalship.

Pacing.

Adaptation.

Psychology.

You cannot claim to authentically represent boxing while systematically stripping away the things that make boxing boxing.

A Casual Player Can Become a Boxing Fan

This is especially important.

I reject the assumption that casual players need boxing watered down for them.

Give someone good feedback.

Give them good tutorials.

Give them intelligent commentary.

Give them training modes.

Give them visual demonstrations.

Give them contextual coaching.

Let the corner tell them:

“He's slipping outside your jab every time. Feint the jab and bring the right hand underneath.”

Now the videogame is teaching boxing.

Maybe the player tries it.

Maybe it works.

Now they understand something about the sport that they did not understand ten minutes earlier.

That is far more rewarding than simply giving everyone generous counter windows and calling it accessibility.

A realistic boxing game can make a hardcore fan out of a casual.

Boxing Fans Should Not Be Afraid of the Word “Fun”

And developers should not be afraid of the word “simulation.”

These concepts are not opposites.

A simulation can be fun.

Learning can be fun.

Mastery can be fun.

Discovering that one boxer requires an entirely different strategy than another boxer can be fun.

Figuring out an opponent can be fun.

Changing strategy between rounds can be fun.

Winning a fight because you recognized a tactical pattern in Round 3 and exploited it in Round 8 can be tremendously satisfying.

That is boxing.

What Actually Scares Players Away?

Poor onboarding.

Bad interfaces.

Unclear mechanics.

Too many unexplained menus.

Bad tutorials.

Unresponsive controls.

Unpredictable results.

Bad matchmaking.

Tedious mandatory micromanagement.

Those are legitimate concerns.

Having a sophisticated simulation underneath the game is not.

So if the Blueprint appears enormous, don't solve that problem by deleting its depth.

Solve it through good UX architecture.

Use:

• presets

• contextual tutorials

• tooltips

• recommendations

• automated settings

• beginner modes

• advanced tabs

• intelligent defaults

• optional assists

• coaching

• gradual system introduction

• difficulty scaling

• customizable sliders

That is how you make a sophisticated game approachable.

Build One Boxing Engine With Multiple Experiences

I would rather see one powerful boxing simulation capable of supporting multiple experiences than a shallow system pretending to serve everybody.

The architecture could support:

Simulation

Realistic consequences and extensive boxer differentiation.

Hybrid

Some simulation mechanics with broader forgiveness.

Arcade

Faster action, simplified mechanics, stronger assistance, and exaggerated accessibility.

Those modes can share assets, animations, boxer data, presentation systems, career infrastructure, and much of the core technology while using different parameter profiles.

That is much better than sacrificing the simulation before development even begins.

And Developers Do Not Have to Build Everything at Once

A Blueprint is supposed to describe the destination.

It does not mean every feature has to ship in version 1.0.

Systems can be prioritized.

Foundation first.

Expansion second.

Advanced authoring tools later.

Career systems can grow.

Creation systems can expand.

AI can become more sophisticated.

New boxer-identity dimensions can be added over time.

But the architecture should be designed so those systems have somewhere to go.

That is one of the reasons the Blueprint is extensive.

It is not merely describing a launch feature list.

It is describing what a boxing platform could become.

My Question to Developers Would Be Different

Instead of asking:

“Is this Blueprint too much?”

Ask:

“How do we architect this depth so different players can engage with as much or as little of it as they want?”

That is the design problem worth solving.

Because reducing boxing until everyone plays roughly the same way is not accessibility.

It is loss of identity.

Removing tactical consequences is not accessibility.

It is loss of strategy.

Removing boxer-specific behavior is not accessibility.

It is loss of authenticity.

And removing advanced options because beginners might not use them is not good product design.

It is simply removing options.

The goal should be:

Easy to start.
Difficult to master.
Deep enough to study for years.

That is exactly what boxing itself is.

One sentence I would especially use in meetings with developers and publishers is:

“Don't reduce the depth of the simulation to protect beginners from complexity. Hide complexity intelligently, automate what beginners don't need, and expose additional depth as the player becomes ready for it.”

That turns your Blueprint from an enormous "wishlist" into what it really should be treated as: a modular long-term systems specification for a boxing platform.

 

“The Blueprint Is Too Much” Is a UX Problem, Not a Simulation Problem

If a developer looks at my Boxing Videogame Blueprint/Wishlist and says, “This is too much. Casual players will be overwhelmed,” my response is simple:

You are confusing depth with mandatory complexity.

I am not proposing that every person who buys the game should have to understand hundreds of attributes, tendencies, capabilities, traits, mannerisms, tactical systems, sliders, physics variables, judging rules, career-management systems, or advanced boxing concepts before they can throw a jab.

Most of those systems should be working underneath the game.

That is what good game architecture is supposed to accomplish.

A casual player should be able to:

• Pick Muhammad Ali.

• Pick Mike Tyson.

• Select a difficulty.

• Choose a few basic options.

• Enter the ring.

• Start boxing.

Nothing about a deep simulation prevents that.

The difference is that underneath that simple experience, Ali should actually behave like Ali and Tyson should actually behave like Tyson.

Their movement should be different.

Their punching mechanics should be different.

Their defensive reactions should be different.

Their preferred ranges should be different.

Their stamina profiles should be different.

Their balance should be different.

Their ring IQ should be different.

Their vulnerabilities should be different.

Their tendencies should be different.

Their signature techniques should be different.

Their reactions to pressure, damage, fatigue, distance, positioning, and tactical adjustments should be different.

The casual player does not need to understand the architecture creating those differences.

They only need to feel them.

That is the entire point.

Complexity Should Be Optional. Authenticity Should Not Be.

A great boxing game should have layers.

A beginner may select:

Quick Play → Boxer → Difficulty → Fight.

Another player might adjust:

Simulation / Hybrid / Arcade

A more experienced player might change:

• stamina

• damage

• referee strictness

• judging

• vulnerability

• counter windows

• defensive assistance

• footwork assistance

• clinching

• inside fighting

• movement assistance

• injury frequency

A hardcore boxing player might open the advanced settings and customize dozens or even hundreds of variables.

Those players can all be playing the same game.

That is not bad design.

That is scalable design.

Think About Modern Cars

A driver does not need to understand fuel injection timing, transmission management, traction-control algorithms, ABS calculations, differential behavior, engine management, suspension geometry, or hundreds of sensor calculations to drive a car.

The systems are still there.

They make the car better.

The driver simply interacts with the controls they need.

A boxing videogame should work the same way.

The player should not have to understand the WeightTransferController to feel when a boxer throws a punch without properly setting his feet.

They should not need to understand the vulnerability system to notice that walking directly into a counter right hand is dangerous.

They should not need to read a database of tendencies to recognize that an opponent keeps slipping outside the jab and countering.

They experience the result.

The simulation handles the calculation.

Casual Players Actually Benefit From Deeper Systems

Depth can make the game easier to understand because the results become more logical.

If I:

• throw while badly off balance,

• repeatedly attack from the same angle,

• exhaust myself throwing power punches,

• leave my body exposed,

• move directly into an opponent's power hand,

• continuously back straight toward the ropes,

• switch stance without being skilled at it,

the game should respond naturally.

A player does not need a boxing degree to understand:

“I keep doing this and I'm getting punished for it.”

That is how casual players learn boxing.

The game teaches through consequence.

Removing realistic systems does not necessarily make a game accessible.

Sometimes it simply makes the game less understandable.

If identical punches produce wildly inconsistent outcomes because the underlying mechanics are shallow, the player cannot determine what they did wrong.

That creates frustration.

Give Players Presets

This is where accessibility belongs.

Imagine opening the game and seeing:

Beginner

More defensive assistance, easier stamina management, simplified controls, broader timing windows, stronger tutorials.

Standard

Balanced experience with most simulation systems active.

Simulation

Full boxer differentiation, realistic stamina, positioning, vulnerability, damage, officiating, movement, inside fighting, clinching, and tactical consequences.

Custom

Everything adjustable.

Now nobody is being forced into anything.

The casual player has an entry point.

The hardcore boxing fan has depth.

The competitive player can establish standardized rulesets.

The content creator can build unusual match conditions.

The offline player can customize an entire boxing universe.

Everybody wins.

Sliders Are Not Just for Hardcore Players

Sliders are often treated like some frightening technical feature.

They are actually one of the easiest ways to avoid forcing one philosophy on everyone.

Don't like realistic stamina?

Change it.

Want easier blocking?

Change it.

Want extremely dangerous counterpunching?

Change it.

Want classic 15-round boxing?

Create that ruleset.

Want modern championship boxing?

Select that preset.

Want an arcade-style knockout festival?

That can exist too.

The mistake is removing simulation systems because some players may not want them.

Build the systems.

Then give players control over how strongly they are expressed.

The Blueprint Is a Systems Library, Not a Mandatory Checklist for the Player

When someone sees hundreds of ideas in the Blueprint, they may imagine hundreds of buttons.

That is not what I am proposing.

I am describing the simulation model.

Consider boxer identity alone.

A boxer could internally contain:

• Attributes

• Traits

• Tendencies

• Capabilities

• Mannerisms

• Signature Techniques

• Ring IQ variables

• Physical geometry

• Athletic characteristics

• Defensive preferences

• Punch mechanics

• Movement preferences

• Psychological tendencies

The player does not have to configure all of these.

Real licensed boxers would already have them.

A casual Create-A-Boxer player might choose:

Style: Pressure Boxer

and the game generates a sensible profile automatically.

A more experienced creator might choose:

Pressure Boxer → Educated Pressure → Body-Oriented Counter Pressure

A hardcore creator could open Advanced Editing and individually adjust everything.

That is progressive disclosure.

Games have used this design philosophy for decades.

Simple on the surface.

Deep underneath.

Create-A-Boxer Is Another Example

I want an extremely deep creation system.

That does not mean someone should need 45 minutes to create their first boxer.

You could provide:

Quick Create

Choose:

• body preset

• face preset

• hairstyle

• trunks

• stance

• boxing style

Done.

Then offer:

Advanced Creation

where someone can adjust:

• skull shape

• shoulder width

• torso proportions

• arm length

• neck dimensions

• muscular distribution

• posture

• stance

• guard

• foot placement

• punch mechanics

• individual techniques

• mannerisms

• tendencies

• capabilities

The existence of Advanced Creation does not hurt the person using Quick Create.

It gives the game longevity for everyone else.

Do Not Design the Entire Sport Around the Least Experienced Player

This is where sports games sometimes make a serious mistake.

Accessibility should mean:

“We provide a comfortable way into the sport.”

It should not mean:

“We remove the sport's depth so nobody has to learn it.”

Those are completely different philosophies.

Boxing itself has tremendous depth.

Distance management.

Timing.

Positioning.

Rhythm.

Feints.

Traps.

Punch selection.

Weight transfer.

Angles.

Foot positioning.

Guard manipulation.

Inside fighting.

Clinching.

Counterpunching.

Ring generalship.

Pacing.

Adaptation.

Psychology.

You cannot claim to authentically represent boxing while systematically stripping away the things that make boxing boxing.

A Casual Player Can Become a Boxing Fan

This is especially important.

I reject the assumption that casual players need boxing watered down for them.

Give someone good feedback.

Give them good tutorials.

Give them intelligent commentary.

Give them training modes.

Give them visual demonstrations.

Give them contextual coaching.

Let the corner tell them:

“He's slipping outside your jab every time. Feint the jab and bring the right hand underneath.”

Now the videogame is teaching boxing.

Maybe the player tries it.

Maybe it works.

Now they understand something about the sport that they did not understand ten minutes earlier.

That is far more rewarding than simply giving everyone generous counter windows and calling it accessibility.

A realistic boxing game can make a hardcore fan out of a casual.

Boxing Fans Should Not Be Afraid of the Word “Fun”

And developers should not be afraid of the word “simulation.”

These concepts are not opposites.

A simulation can be fun.

Learning can be fun.

Mastery can be fun.

Discovering that one boxer requires an entirely different strategy than another boxer can be fun.

Figuring out an opponent can be fun.

Changing strategy between rounds can be fun.

Winning a fight because you recognized a tactical pattern in Round 3 and exploited it in Round 8 can be tremendously satisfying.

That is boxing.

What Actually Scares Players Away?

Poor onboarding.

Bad interfaces.

Unclear mechanics.

Too many unexplained menus.

Bad tutorials.

Unresponsive controls.

Unpredictable results.

Bad matchmaking.

Tedious mandatory micromanagement.

Those are legitimate concerns.

Having a sophisticated simulation underneath the game is not.

So if the Blueprint appears enormous, don't solve that problem by deleting its depth.

Solve it through good UX architecture.

Use:

• presets

• contextual tutorials

• tooltips

• recommendations

• automated settings

• beginner modes

• advanced tabs

• intelligent defaults

• optional assists

• coaching

• gradual system introduction

• difficulty scaling

• customizable sliders

That is how you make a sophisticated game approachable.

Build One Boxing Engine With Multiple Experiences

I would rather see one powerful boxing simulation capable of supporting multiple experiences than a shallow system pretending to serve everybody.

The architecture could support:

Simulation

Realistic consequences and extensive boxer differentiation.

Hybrid

Some simulation mechanics with broader forgiveness.

Arcade

Faster action, simplified mechanics, stronger assistance, and exaggerated accessibility.

Those modes can share assets, animations, boxer data, presentation systems, career infrastructure, and much of the core technology while using different parameter profiles.

That is much better than sacrificing the simulation before development even begins.

And Developers Do Not Have to Build Everything at Once

A Blueprint is supposed to describe the destination.

It does not mean every feature has to ship in version 1.0.

Systems can be prioritized.

Foundation first.

Expansion second.

Advanced authoring tools later.

Career systems can grow.

Creation systems can expand.

AI can become more sophisticated.

New boxer-identity dimensions can be added over time.

But the architecture should be designed so those systems have somewhere to go.

That is one of the reasons the Blueprint is extensive.

It is not merely describing a launch feature list.

It is describing what a boxing platform could become.

My Question to Developers Would Be Different

Instead of asking:

“Is this Blueprint too much?”

Ask:

“How do we architect this depth so different players can engage with as much or as little of it as they want?”

That is the design problem worth solving.

Because reducing boxing until everyone plays roughly the same way is not accessibility.

It is loss of identity.

Removing tactical consequences is not accessibility.

It is loss of strategy.

Removing boxer-specific behavior is not accessibility.

It is loss of authenticity.

And removing advanced options because beginners might not use them is not good product design.

It is simply removing options.

The goal should be:

Easy to start.
Difficult to master.
Deep enough to study for years.

That is exactly what boxing itself is.

 

Defending PlayStation Going Fully Digital Misses the Entire Point

There is something backwards about watching consumers defend a corporation taking an option away from consumers.

Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on July 1, 2026 that it will discontinue physical disc production for all new PlayStation games beginning in January 2028. New games released after that point are planned to be available digitally through the PlayStation Store and digital retailers. Sony says the move reflects changing consumer preferences toward digital media.

That decision has created enough concern that PlayStation customers are no longer simply arguing about it on social media.

They are protesting.

The #PSBlackout is underway right now.

And that protest makes an important point that some of the people attacking it appear determined not to understand:

This is not about somebody buying a bad game and regretting the purchase.

This is about ownership, access, preservation, consumer choice, resale, lending, competition and what happens when one corporation becomes the gatekeeper to practically an entire customer's game library.

Those are two completely different conversations.

The PlayStation Blackout Is Happening for a Reason

The game-preservation community Does It Play? organized the #PSBlackout campaign in response to Sony's announced physical-media plans.

The protest began August 23 at 7:00 PM local time and is scheduled to continue through August 30 at 7:00 PM local time. Participants are being encouraged to disengage from the PlayStation ecosystem during the protest: don't log into PSN, don't play through the network, don't purchase from the PlayStation Store and don't financially support the ecosystem during the blackout period.

This isn't just a few people posting angry messages.

An associated petition opposing the end of physical PlayStation releases had climbed past 370,000 verified signatures by August 23, according to an update from its organizer.

The protest was also deliberately timed during Gamescom week, when the gaming industry and gaming press are paying attention. The objective is obvious: make the issue difficult to dismiss as a handful of comments buried under corporate announcements.

Whether the blackout ultimately changes Sony's decision remains to be seen.

But the existence of the protest matters.

It proves that there are customers who believe the transition isn't merely about convenience.

They believe something is being taken away.

And they're right about that.

This Isn't An Anti-Digital Protest

Some of the response to the blackout completely misses its purpose.

People respond:

"I haven't bought a disc in years."

Fine.

"Digital games are more convenient."

They are.

"Most people already buy digital."

Sony itself says consumer purchasing trends are heavily digital.

None of that answers the actual argument.

The issue isn't whether people should be allowed to purchase digitally.

Of course they should.

The issue is whether consumers should be forced into digital purchasing because the alternative is deliberately eliminated.

Those aren't the same thing.

A customer choosing digital is consumer choice.

A platform holder eliminating physical releases is removing consumer choice.

Someone who purchases digitally loses absolutely nothing because another person is allowed to buy a disc.

But the physical-media customer loses a great deal when the disc disappears.

That customer potentially loses the ability to:

• buy used copies;

• resell games;

• trade games;

• lend games;

• give a game to someone;

• shop among competing physical retailers;

• collect physical releases;

• preserve playable copies independently of a storefront;

• find older titles secondhand years later;

• maintain another access path when online infrastructure changes.

So why should consumers celebrate losing an option simply because they personally don't use that option?

#PSBlackout Isn't About Somebody Buying a Bad Game

This is where some of the online deflection becomes frustrating.

People are inserting completely unrelated arguments into the protest.

"People bought bad physical games before."

"You bought the game and played it, so why are you complaining?"

"People complain about everything."

"Maybe you should've researched the game before buying it."

What does any of that have to do with physical media disappearing?

Nothing.

There are two separate issues.

One is:

"I bought a videogame and I don't think it was good."

The other is:

"What rights and practical control do I retain over a product after paying for it?"

Those aren't interchangeable arguments.

A person participating in #PSBlackout isn't protesting because they bought a videogame they disliked.

They are protesting Sony's decision concerning the future distribution model of the entire platform.

You can buy the greatest game ever made and still question whether you should have stronger ownership and preservation rights over the copy you purchased.

You can buy the worst game ever made and still resell its physical disc.

The quality of the game doesn't determine the underlying consumer-rights issue.

Dragging game reviews, buyer's remorse, bad releases or someone's gaming preferences into this debate is simply changing the subject.

Sony's Own Agreements Are Why Consumers Should Pay Attention

This debate becomes even more significant when Sony's own legal language is considered.

PlayStation's current U.S. Terms of Service state that content provided through PlayStation is licensed on a non-exclusive and revocable basis for personal, private, non-transferable and non-commercial use. They also restrict selling, renting, lending, sublicensing and transferring that content except where Sony permits it.

Sony's software agreement is even more direct:

"The Software is licensed to you, not sold."

That wording isn't unique to Sony, and it doesn't mean Sony is announcing that everybody's digital games will suddenly disappear tomorrow.

But it absolutely matters in a conversation about eliminating physical alternatives.

Because once a platform becomes entirely digital, practically every new purchase becomes dependent upon a licensing ecosystem controlled by the platform holder and publishers.

Accounts.

Authentication.

Store infrastructure.

DRM.

License databases.

Servers.

Publisher agreements.

Third-party services.

Compatibility.

Platform policies.

Those dependencies become increasingly important when there is no physical alternative.

And Then Sony Sent Players Its Terms

The timing hasn't gone unnoticed either.

Shortly before the #PSBlackout began, PlayStation users reported receiving an email containing copies of PlayStation's Terms of Service, software agreement, Code of Conduct and privacy documentation.

Reporting on the email highlighted the same language at the heart of the current debate: software is licensed rather than sold. The reported email went out on August 18, just days before the August 23 blackout began.

Whatever Sony's reason for distributing the documentation, the timing couldn't better illustrate why this argument matters.

On one side:

Physical games are scheduled to disappear for new PlayStation releases.

On the other:

Consumers are being reminded about the legal structure governing their digital access.

And somehow customers who question this direction are supposed to be unreasonable?

No.

This is precisely when consumers should be asking questions.

Digital Doesn't Automatically Mean Permanent

There is another misconception underneath many of these arguments:

"I bought it digitally, so it's mine forever."

That is not something consumers should automatically assume.

PlayStation's software terms specifically state that software is licensed rather than sold, and they also address Sony's ability to discontinue online and network features. Sony says reasonable advance notice will be provided before online services are discontinued, while also noting that offline modes are not guaranteed indefinitely.

Again, that doesn't mean Sony can or will randomly erase every game tomorrow.

The larger issue is dependency.

A digital library exists within a technical and contractual ecosystem.

That means consumers should be asking:

What happens 10 years from now?

What happens 20 years from now?

What happens when a game is delisted?

What happens when a publisher disappears?

What happens when licensing agreements expire?

What happens when authentication infrastructure changes?

What happens when old hardware stops being supported?

What happens when a storefront shuts down?

What happens if an account becomes inaccessible?

What happens when backwards compatibility doesn't carry something forward?

What legal protections guarantee continued access?

Those aren't irrational questions.

They're exactly the questions a consumer should ask before accepting a future in which there is no alternative distribution method.

We've Already Seen Why Digital Licensing Matters With Movies and Television

This conversation isn't occurring in a vacuum.

Digital movies and television have already shown consumers how complicated the word "purchase" can become when licensing agreements are involved.

PlayStation previously announced that certain Discovery television content customers had purchased would become unavailable because of licensing arrangements. The planned removal was eventually reversed after updated licensing agreements were reached.

Think about what that means.

The important lesson isn't simply that Sony eventually preserved access in that case.

The important lesson is that a licensing dispute was capable of putting previously purchased digital content at risk in the first place.

That's exactly why people should care about ownership language.

That's why game preservation matters.

That's why physical media matters.

And that's why a digital-only ecosystem deserves far more scrutiny than:

"Well, I buy digital anyway."

Physical Media Doesn't Mean You Own the Copyright

This argument also needs to remain accurate.

Buying a physical videogame doesn't mean you suddenly own the game's intellectual property.

You don't own Spider-Man because you bought a Spider-Man disc.

You don't own Sony's source code.

You don't acquire the right to reproduce and commercially distribute the software.

That's not what anybody serious about physical ownership is arguing.

What you do possess is a physical copy.

That physical object creates practical consumer capabilities that a typical non-transferable digital license does not.

You can possess it.

Store it.

Trade it.

Resell it.

Give it away.

Buy it used.

Collect it.

And, where the game doesn't require unavailable online infrastructure, potentially use that physical copy independently of a current storefront purchase.

That difference is significant.

Physical Games Create Retail Competition

There is also an economic consequence that shouldn't be ignored.

With physical games, multiple businesses can compete to sell the same title.

A major retailer might have it for $69.99.

Another might discount it to $49.99.

A local game store might have a used copy for $35.

Someone online might sell a copy for $25.

Years later, you might find it for $8 at a secondhand store.

That creates an aftermarket.

It creates competition.

It allows consumers to determine what their property is worth to someone else.

A conventional digital PlayStation license doesn't work that way.

You can't take five downloaded PlayStation games into a store and trade them toward another game.

You can't sell one of your downloaded licenses to another PlayStation customer.

You can't put it on a shelf at a local game store.

You can't hand that digital license to somebody across the street.

And PlayStation's current terms specifically describe digital content as non-transferable except where Sony provides otherwise.

When physical alternatives disappear, more economic control becomes concentrated inside the platform owner's ecosystem.

That deserves discussion.

"Most People Buy Digital" Still Isn't An Answer

Imagine applying this logic elsewhere.

Most people don't use a particular feature, therefore eliminate it.

Most customers don't exercise a particular consumer right, therefore nobody needs it.

Most people don't buy secondhand, therefore eliminate resale.

Most people don't lend games, therefore remove lending.

Most people don't collect physical games, therefore collectors shouldn't matter.

That's a dangerous standard for consumer choice.

Popularity and rights are not the same thing.

If 80 percent of PlayStation players prefer digital and 20 percent prefer physical, the digital customers don't require physical customers to lose their option in order to continue enjoying digital purchases.

Both can coexist.

Sony's own July announcement acknowledges that the company is making the transition because it believes digital preference significantly outpaces physical media.

But "most people prefer it" explains a business decision.

It doesn't automatically answer the consumer-rights objections to that decision.

The Blackout Is Consumers Exercising the Only Power Companies Always Understand

Some gamers are mocking people participating in #PSBlackout.

Why?

They're customers exercising their right not to participate in an ecosystem for a week.

That's capitalism too.

A corporation has the right to make a business decision.

Consumers have the right to respond:

We don't support that decision.

Sony can look at financial projections, engagement numbers, manufacturing costs and digital sales percentages when deciding what's best for Sony.

Consumers should look at ownership, preservation, access, competition, pricing and choice when deciding what's best for consumers.

There is nothing unreasonable about that.

Consumers do not owe corporations unconditional loyalty.

PlayStation Fans Shouldn't Be Fighting PlayStation's Battle for Them

This may be the strangest part of the entire discussion.

Sony has corporate executives.

Sony has lawyers.

Sony has accountants.

Sony has marketing departments.

Sony has public-relations professionals.

Sony can explain and defend its own business strategy.

Why are ordinary customers aggressively fighting other customers who are asking Sony to keep giving everybody more choices?

Nobody participating in the protest is trying to stop you from buying digitally.

Nobody is saying your downloaded library should be taken away.

Nobody is demanding that PlayStation become physical-only.

Nobody is telling you how you must purchase your games.

They're asking Sony to preserve both options.

If physical releases survive, the digital customer can continue downloading everything.

If physical releases disappear, the physical customer cannot continue buying discs.

That isn't an equal trade.

The #PSBlackout Is About Sending a Message

A one-week blackout isn't going to make millions of PlayStation consoles disappear.

Sony isn't going to collapse because people don't log in for several days.

And nobody should pretend otherwise.

The purpose is visibility and collective action.

It's customers saying:

We're here.

We spend money too.

Physical games matter to us.

Ownership matters to us.

Preservation matters to us.

Choice matters to us.

A protest does not have to bankrupt a corporation to have value.

It can create coverage.

It can create discussion.

It can attract additional signatures.

It can demonstrate dissatisfaction.

It can force executives to repeatedly answer questions they would rather consider settled.

It can make investors, retailers, publishers and other platform holders pay attention to how customers respond.

And it can tell the rest of the videogame industry that eliminating physical media may not be as frictionless as some executives expect.

This Shouldn't Become Another Console-War Argument

Xbox players shouldn't celebrate because PlayStation is receiving criticism.

Nintendo players shouldn't celebrate.

PC players shouldn't celebrate.

This issue reaches beyond Sony.

If one of the world's largest gaming platforms successfully moves completely away from physical releases without meaningful consumer resistance, every other company gets another data point showing that consumers will accept it.

Today the argument is PlayStation.

Tomorrow it could be another platform.

The correct response isn't:

"Good. Sony deserves it."

It should be:

What protections should every digital videogame customer have?

That's the larger industry conversation.

What Consumers Should Demand Before Accepting an All-Digital Future

If gaming companies believe a fully digital future is inevitable, then consumers should demand something in exchange for surrendering the protections and flexibility physical media provides.

We should be discussing:

Stronger permanent-access protections.

Clear delisting policies.

Offline functionality whenever technically possible.

Long-term authentication solutions.

Account recovery protections.

Digital inheritance policies.

Preservation programs.

Consumer protections if storefronts permanently close.

Greater transparency regarding licensing expiration.

The ability to redownload previously purchased content even after ordinary storefront sales end wherever legally possible.

Better separation between account punishment and access to legitimately purchased offline content.

And serious consideration of whether transferable digital ownership should exist.

If corporations want consumers to surrender physical ownership mechanisms, then digital consumer rights should become stronger, not weaker.

The Real Question Isn't "Do You Prefer Discs?"

That question is too small.

The real question is:

How much control are consumers willing to surrender over the entertainment they pay for?

That's what #PSBlackout represents.

The argument is bigger than plastic discs.

It's bigger than nostalgia.

It's bigger than having game cases sitting on a shelf.

It's about whether your future videogame library exists primarily because you possess something or because a corporate ecosystem continues recognizing your permission to access something.

Those are fundamentally different relationships.

Let Sony Hear the Customers Instead of Drowning Them Out

People don't have to participate in #PSBlackout.

They don't have to agree with every argument made by everyone involved.

They don't have to own a single physical game.

But stop pretending the protest is about people whining because they bought a bad videogame.

It isn't.

The blackout running from August 23 through August 30, 2026 is a coordinated consumer response to Sony's announced January 2028 end to physical disc production for new PlayStation releases.

That's the issue.

Discuss that issue.

If you prefer digital games, buy digital games.

If you prefer physical games, you should be allowed to continue buying physical games.

If you like both, you should be allowed to choose between them.

A corporation doesn't need customers volunteering to argue for fewer customer options.

Consumers should be arguing for more.

Because once physical media is gone, the argument changes from:

"Should Sony take this option away?"

to:

"Will Sony ever give it back?"

And those are two very different fights.

#PSBlackout
#PhysicalGamesMatter
#GamePreservation
#ConsumerRights
#PlayStation
#Gaming

 

Does It Make Sense for a Boxing Game Company to Blackball One of Its Most Passionate Fans?

There is something deeply backwards about a boxing videogame company distancing itself from a passionate fan precisely because that fan understands boxing, understands videogames, and refuses to pretend everything is fine when it is not.

A critical fan is not automatically a toxic fan.

A fan who points out missing mechanics, unrealistic behavior, questionable design decisions, broken systems, or promises that have not materialized is not automatically attacking the developers.

And a fan who actually boxed may notice things that many traditional videogame players, influencers, and even developers simply will not notice.

That perspective should be valuable.

Yet sometimes it feels as though the people most willing to challenge a boxing game's direction are treated as liabilities rather than resources.

Getting Paid to Be in the Game Does Not Make Someone an Independent Critic

One of the strangest arguments surrounding sports videogames is the idea that everything must be going well because professional athletes involved with the product are not publicly complaining.

Why would that automatically mean the game is in a great place?

A boxer who licensed his or her likeness to a videogame company has a completely different relationship with that company than an ordinary customer does.

The boxer may be:

• receiving compensation,

• participating in promotional events,

• appearing in trailers,

• posting promotional material,

• building a relationship with the publisher,

• receiving additional exposure,

• or simply happy to finally see themselves represented in a videogame.

None of that is wrong.

But it also does not make that boxer an independent videogame critic.

Some professional boxers barely play videogames. Others may play casually. Some probably do not understand concepts such as input latency, animation priority, stamina algorithms, defensive state machines, collision detection, frame windows, AI tendencies, online synchronization, career-mode progression, procedural animation, or simulation balancing.

They should not be expected to.

They are professional boxers.

Their expertise is boxing.

Likewise, a traditional videogame content creator may understand games extremely well without understanding what it actually feels like to transfer weight into a hook, fight inside, catch a jab, roll under a punch, manipulate distance, punch while moving, recover after missing, fight tired, or recognize the subtle differences between a technically responsible boxer and somebody simply standing behind a block mechanic.

Now imagine someone who understands both worlds.

That person should be worth listening to.

The Boxer-Gamer Perspective Is Extremely Rare

Someone who has boxed and spent decades playing boxing videogames occupies an unusual position.

They are not merely asking:

"Is this game fun?"

They may also be asking:

"Does this resemble boxing?"

Those are not the same question.

A mechanic can be entertaining while being completely disconnected from the sport.

A defensive system can technically "work" while making no boxing sense.

A stamina system can produce competitive matches while inaccurately representing conditioning.

Movement can look smooth while violating basic principles of balance and weight distribution.

Punches can look beautiful individually while producing terrible boxing once the animation system starts blending them together.

A boxer-gamer may recognize these problems almost immediately because they understand the physical language being simulated.

Instead of treating that person like an inconvenience, a serious simulation developer should at least want to understand why they are seeing something differently.

They do not have to agree with every criticism.

But shutting the criticism out accomplishes nothing.

Hiding Critical Comments Does Not Fix the Criticism

There is another problem that damages community trust: critical comments seemingly disappearing, being hidden, filtered, or receiving dramatically different treatment from praise.

Obviously, companies have every right to moderate harassment, threats, spam, personal attacks, discrimination, and disruptive behavior.

That is community management.

But legitimate criticism is different.

If someone writes:

The footwork does not properly represent planted versus unplanted punching.

That is criticism.

If someone says:

Every boxer should not recover defensively at approximately the same speed.

That is criticism.

If someone asks:

Why are important boxing systems missing when they were previously discussed?

That is criticism.

If someone explains why guards, parries, clinching, inside fighting, stamina, punch trajectory, weight transfer, referee behavior, or boxer tendencies do not accurately resemble boxing, deleting the observation does not make the underlying problem disappear.

It simply removes the conversation.

And when customers notice that enthusiastic praise remains visible while detailed criticism repeatedly vanishes, they may begin wondering whether the company actually wants feedback or merely wants approval.

Those are very different things.

Content Creators Should Not Have to Fear Association With Critical Fans

There is also a cultural problem that can develop around videogames when access becomes currency.

Early gameplay.

Developer interviews.

Exclusive information.

Events.

Travel opportunities.

Creator programs.

Promotional relationships.

Free copies.

Behind-the-scenes access.

None of those things are inherently problematic. Creator relationships can be tremendously useful for developers and communities.

The problem begins when people start believing that associating with somebody who criticizes the game could jeopardize their own opportunities.

Then you do not really have an open community anymore.

You have an informal access hierarchy.

Creators start measuring their words.

People become careful about who they publicly associate with.

Criticism becomes softer.

Questions become safer.

People who disagree communicate privately instead of publicly.

Eventually, the community can create its own form of self-censorship without the company ever explicitly ordering anyone to stay quiet.

That is unhealthy for a videogame that still needs to improve.

The best feedback frequently comes from the people willing to say what everyone else is carefully avoiding.

You Can Disagree With Someone Without Erasing Them

A company does not have to adopt every suggestion from a passionate fan.

That would be ridiculous.

Game development requires compromises involving budgets, engineering resources, schedules, animation pipelines, licensing, performance targets, online architecture, console certification, accessibility, usability, and dozens of other realities players never see.

Some ideas will not work.

Some will cost too much.

Some will conflict with other systems.

Some may be technically possible but commercially unreasonable.

Fine.

Explain that.

Or simply disagree.

But disagreement is not the same thing as treating a longtime supporter as though they should no longer exist within the conversation.

A passionate critic can occasionally be wrong.

Developers can occasionally be wrong too.

That is exactly why conversation matters.

Then Comes the Ageism

Perhaps one of the weakest responses to criticism has nothing to do with boxing videogames at all:

"You're too old to be playing videogames."

"You're an old head."

"Don't you have something else to do?"

What exactly is the age limit for gaming?

Gaming is no longer some new cultural experiment belonging exclusively to teenagers.

People who grew up with Atari, Intellivision, ColecoVision, Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PlayStation, Xbox, PC gaming, arcade machines, and early sports simulations did not suddenly surrender their controllers when younger generations arrived.

They helped build the videogame market.

Many have been buying games for 30, 40, or even 50 years.

They watched videogames evolve from simple sprites into enormous interactive simulations capable of modeling physics, economies, crowds, weather, artificial intelligence, motion capture, procedural animation, online worlds, and incredibly detailed athletes.

Why would their opinions suddenly become less valuable?

Experience is not automatically expertise, but neither is youth.

Someone who has played boxing videogames across multiple generations may actually possess historical knowledge younger players do not.

They remember what previous games attempted.

They know which mechanics disappeared.

They remember systems that worked surprisingly well decades ago.

They can recognize when something marketed as revolutionary is actually something boxing games attempted twenty years earlier.

That historical memory should be useful.

This Is Gaming, Not the 1930s, 40s, 50s, or 60s

The idea that an older person should abandon videogames because gaming supposedly belongs to young people makes even less sense when you look at the industry itself.

This is not the 1930s.

It is not the 1940s.

It is not the 1950s.

It is not the 1960s.

Gaming is one of the largest entertainment industries in the world.

Adults design the games.

Adults program the games.

Adults publish the games.

Adults invest in the companies.

Adults review the games.

Adults stream the games.

Adults compete in the games.

Adults purchase collector's editions.

Adults buy consoles, GPUs, televisions, subscriptions, DLC, peripherals, and season passes.

Yet somehow adults are supposedly too old to criticize them?

That argument collapses immediately.

If someone is old enough to spend money supporting your product, they are old enough to have an opinion about what they purchased.

Passionate Criticism Is Usually Evidence That Someone Still Cares

Developers should worry far more when passionate players stop criticizing.

Criticism means someone is still paying attention.

They still believe the game could become better.

They are still thinking about its mechanics.

They are still discussing its future.

They are still imagining what it could become.

Indifference is far more dangerous.

The moment someone who spent years advocating for a genre finally says, "I don't care anymore," the company has not defeated a critic.

It has potentially lost a customer and an advocate.

Boxing videogames already occupy a difficult position because the genre does not receive the constant releases that football, basketball, soccer, hockey, wrestling, or mixed martial arts games receive.

That makes knowledgeable boxing-game communities even more important.

There simply are not enough boxing videogames being developed to justify pushing serious boxing enthusiasts away because they ask uncomfortable questions.

A Boxing Company Should Want People Who Know Boxing in the Room

If I were building a serious boxing simulation, I would want multiple perspectives around the project.

I would want professional boxers.

Former boxers.

Trainers.

Cutmen.

Referees.

Judges.

Promoters.

Commentators.

Historians.

Hardcore boxing fans.

Casual boxing fans.

Competitive gamers.

Offline gamers.

Career-mode players.

Accessibility experts.

Animation specialists.

AI engineers.

And yes, boxers who are also longtime videogame players.

Especially those people.

Because they can potentially translate experiences between two disciplines.

They can explain not merely that something looks wrong, but why it feels wrong from a boxing perspective and how that problem might translate into gameplay systems.

That does not make them developers.

It makes them potentially valuable domain experts and consumers.

There is an enormous difference.

Criticism Does Not Mean Someone Wants the Game to Fail

This may be the biggest misunderstanding.

Some of the strongest critics of boxing videogames are critical precisely because they desperately want the genre to succeed.

If someone wanted the game to fail, why would they spend hundreds or thousands of hours discussing defensive systems, tendencies, footwork, boxer identity, career modes, commentary, trainers, referees, creation suites, punch mechanics, stamina, AI, inside fighting, clinching, judging, presentation, and everything else the genre could become?

That is not indifference.

That is investment.

Companies do not have to enjoy being criticized.

Nobody does.

But mature creative organizations learn how to separate hostility from useful criticism.

When somebody crosses a line, address the behavior.

When somebody raises a legitimate design concern, address the argument.

Do not confuse the two.

Boxing Games Need More Difficult Conversations, Not Fewer

Boxing videogames cannot advance if every difficult discussion gets reduced to:

"You're just negative."

"The professional boxers like it."

"The influencers like it."

"You're too old."

"You don't understand game development."

None of those statements actually answers a criticism about boxing mechanics.

If someone says the defense is unrealistic, explain the defensive philosophy.

If someone challenges the stamina model, discuss stamina.

If someone questions boxer individuality, show how boxer identity is being modeled.

If someone says inside fighting is inadequate, discuss inside fighting.

Answer boxing criticism with boxing design.

That is how serious conversations happen.

A passionate boxing fan who actually boxed, understands videogames, studies the genre, remembers its history, and is willing to challenge developers may occasionally be irritating to a company.

But irritation and irrelevance are not the same thing.

Sometimes the person asking the questions nobody wants to hear is exactly the person worth keeping in the conversation.

Because a healthy community should not be built entirely around the people willing to tell a company what it wants to hear.

It should also have room for the people willing to tell it what they believe it needs to hear.

Boxing Games Don’t Need Every Superstar: So What Are EA, 2K, and the Industry Waiting For?

 

A Great Create-A-Boxer System Could Carry the Next Boxing Videogame

EA, 2K, and Other Publishers May Be Looking at the Boxing Roster Problem Backward

I think the boxing videogame conversation has been stuck on the wrong question for far too long.

Every time somebody asks why EA has not returned to boxing, why 2K has never seriously entered boxing, or why another major publisher has not stepped forward, the conversation eventually circles back to the same explanation:

The boxers are too expensive.

Then people start talking about licensing.

How expensive this champion might be.

How difficult that legend might be to sign.

How there is no single players association covering the entire sport.

How promoters, managers, estates, individual boxers, and other parties can all be involved.

And suddenly the conclusion becomes:

That is why nobody wants to make a boxing videogame.

I do not buy that explanation as the complete answer.

More importantly, I think it causes people to overlook something much bigger.

A boxing videogame does not have to depend entirely on licensed boxers to carry the game.

If the actual game is exceptional, Create-A-Boxer could help carry the product.

Not the shallow Create-A-Boxer modes we have been conditioned to accept.

I mean an enormous creation system combined with outstanding graphics, realistic boxing mechanics, authentic animations, excellent presentation, intelligent CPU boxing, career depth, customization, community sharing, and enough tools for players to build almost any boxing world they can imagine.

That changes everything.

---

Stop Treating the Licensed Roster as the Game

Licensed boxers matter.

I want real boxers.

I want champions.

I want contenders.

I want prospects.

I want legends.

I want women boxers represented properly.

I want different eras of boxing.

I want boxers from around the world.

But somewhere along the way, sports gaming started treating the licensed athlete list as though it were the product itself.

It is not.

The boxing is the product.

The licensed roster is content operating inside that product.

There is a major difference.

Imagine a boxing videogame launches with 60, 70, or 80 licensed boxers.

Now imagine the game also gives me the ability to create hundreds or thousands of additional boxers with extraordinary visual accuracy and, more importantly, extraordinary boxing accuracy.

Suddenly that launch roster does not represent the boundaries of the game anymore.

It represents the beginning.

That is why Create-A-Boxer should not be sitting somewhere in a menu as a secondary feature.

For a modern boxing videogame, it could be one of the primary pillars of the entire design.

---

The Question Should Be: How Powerful Is Create-A-Boxer?

This is where I believe publishers need to change their thinking.

Suppose a major superstar wants an unreasonable licensing fee.

Okay.

Maybe you negotiate.

Maybe you eventually reach an agreement.

Maybe you add that boxer later.

Maybe the boxer becomes DLC.

Maybe the deal never happens.

That should not cripple the entire game.

Because if the creation suite is powerful enough, the boxing world continues functioning.

That requires something far beyond:

Choose head.

Choose hair.

Choose beard.

Choose trunks.

Select stance.

Allocate attribute points.

Finished.

That is not enough anymore.

A true next-generation Create-A-Boxer system should allow us to construct the visual identity, physical identity, technical identity, tactical identity, behavioral identity, and career identity of a boxer.

Now we are talking about a system capable of carrying a boxing game.

---

I Should Be Able to Create a Boxer, Not Just a Character Model

There is an enormous difference.

Creating someone who visually resembles a boxer is only the first layer.

The boxer must actually box like that boxer.

Give us facial sculpting deep enough to control:

• skull shape

• forehead

• brow structure

• eye depth

• eye spacing

• nose structure

• cheekbones

• jaw

• chin

• ears

• lips

• facial asymmetry

• scars

• swelling tendencies

• skin details

• aging

• facial hair

• hairstyles

• hairline

• body hair

• tattoos

• birthmarks

• complexion

• damage history

Then give us serious body creation.

Not three generic body presets.

Let us control:

• height

• reach

• shoulder width

• torso length

• arm length

• forearm length

• hand size

• neck size

• chest

• back

• waist

• hips

• thighs

• calves

• body-fat distribution

• muscularity

• leg-to-torso ratio

• wingspan

• posture

• natural stance width

• center of gravity

A 5-foot-8 boxer with a 74-inch reach should not simply be a scaled model.

A 6-foot-6 heavyweight with unusually long arms should not move as though somebody stretched a middleweight character vertically.

Body geometry should affect boxing.

That is where creation becomes part of gameplay instead of cosmetics.

---

Let Me Create How My Boxer Actually Boxes

This is where the system becomes revolutionary.

Create-A-Boxer should let players build a boxing identity from the ground up.

Give us Create-A-Stance.

Give us Create-A-Guard.

Give us Create-A-Defense.

Give us Create-A-Footwork Style.

Give us Create-A-Punch Style.

Give us Create-A-Combination Library.

Give us Create-A-Inside Style.

Give us Create-A-Clinching Style.

Give us Create-A-Counterpunching Profile.

Give us Create-A-Boxing Personality.

The boxer should not simply have an orthodox or southpaw label.

Let us determine how high the hands sit.

How wide the elbows are.

How much the chin is tucked.

How squared or bladed the torso becomes.

Whether the lead hand floats.

Whether the rear hand stays glued to the cheek.

Whether the boxer frequently switches guard positions.

Whether the boxer keeps the lead hand extended.

Whether the boxer carries both hands low.

Whether the boxer changes posture when entering the pocket.

That is boxer creation.

---

Let Me Create Punches

Why should every created boxer share the same jab animation?

One boxer snaps the jab.

Another paws with it.

Another shoots it from the waist.

Another steps hard behind it.

Another doubles it rapidly.

Another uses it almost like a range finder.

Another throws a stiff jab designed to disrupt posture.

Another primarily jabs to the chest.

Another varies speed.

The same applies to:

• straight rights

• crosses

• lead hooks

• rear hooks

• shovel hooks

• check hooks

• looping rights

• overhands

• uppercuts

• body hooks

• body straights

• double jabs

• triple jabs

• combination entries

• punches while retreating

• punches during pivots

Now combine animation options with timing, velocity, body mechanics, weight transfer, trajectory, range, recovery, accuracy, and tactical preference.

Suddenly two created boxers can have completely different boxing identities even if their numerical attributes are similar.

That is how a creation system carries a sports game.

---

The CPU Has to Understand Everything We Create

This part is critical.

Creation cannot exist only for human-controlled boxers.

If I create 300 boxers for my universe, the CPU needs to understand what I created.

If Boxer A is a patient counterpuncher, the CPU should box patiently.

If Boxer B applies constant pressure but attacks intelligently, the CPU should pressure intelligently.

If Boxer C is dangerous on the inside, the CPU should work toward inside positions.

If Boxer D prefers distance, the CPU should protect distance.

If Boxer E attacks the body when opponents shell up, the CPU should recognize the shell and change targets.

If Boxer F becomes desperate while losing rounds, that behavioral change should emerge.

If Boxer G protects a lead late, the CPU should know the score and box accordingly.

If Boxer H has tremendous power but poor endurance, the CPU should understand that risk.

This is how created boxers become actual members of the boxing universe rather than decorative substitutes.

---

This Is Why Licensing Does Not Have to Carry Everything

This is the part of the argument I wanted to emphasize from the beginning.

Licensing should complement the game.

Licensing should not have to carry the game.

There is a difference.

If I have incredible gameplay, incredible presentation, incredible creation tools, an enormous career system, excellent CPU behavior, and strong community sharing, I do not need 300 licensed boxers on Day One to justify buying the game.

Give me an excellent foundation.

Then grow the licensed roster.

That is a much more sustainable concept.

And my own experience is part of why I question how casually people repeat the licensing argument.

---

What I Saw With Round4Round

I worked with the now-defunct indie boxing videogame project Round4Round Boxing.

We were not EA.

We were not 2K.

We were not backed by one of the largest publishers in gaming.

Yet the project managed to get agreements involving more than one hundred boxers, including legends, men, and women.

That experience matters to my perspective.

It did not feel like some impossible mystery where nobody in boxing could be approached unless millions upon millions of dollars were placed on the table.

Different arrangements could be discussed.

Different boxers had different circumstances.

And one of the possibilities was that boxers could benefit financially through DLC.

That is important.

Because everybody seems to discuss boxer licensing as though every single boxer must receive some enormous guaranteed check before the videogame can exist.

Why?

There are other structures.

A boxer can receive compensation tied partially to downloadable content.

A boxer can be added after launch.

A group of legends can be sold as an optional expansion.

A younger boxer can gain exposure by being included.

An established boxer can command a different arrangement.

The biggest names can be treated as premium licenses.

There is no law saying every contract must look identical.

I am not saying licensing costs nothing.

I am saying the repeated claim that boxer licensing itself makes a major boxing videogame nearly impossible does not match what I personally witnessed while working around an independent project.

And even if certain superstar licenses become expensive, that still does not destroy the game if the game has an elite creation system.

That is the larger point.

---

Create-A-Boxer Is the Insurance Policy

Think about it from a development standpoint.

A deep Create-A-Boxer system protects the game from roster limitations.

A licensing deal falls apart?

The game survives.

A boxer retires?

The game survives.

A new champion emerges after launch?

The game survives.

A prospect suddenly becomes popular?

The game survives.

A retired legend cannot be secured?

The game survives.

A player wants to recreate an obscure boxer from 1974?

The game can support it.

Someone wants an entirely fictional universe?

The game can support it.

Someone wants a roster made entirely of women boxers?

The game can support it.

Someone wants to create 300 prospects and simulate the next twenty years of boxing?

The game can support it.

That is enormous value.

---

But Create-A-Boxer Cannot Carry a Bad Boxing Game

There is an important condition attached to everything I am saying.

The underlying boxing must be excellent.

A gigantic creation suite cannot rescue bad boxing mechanics.

You cannot give me unlimited creation slots and then have everyone move the same.

You cannot give me face sculpting and then have punches slide through guards.

You cannot let me create Muhammad Ali's appearance but provide no way to reproduce his movement philosophy.

You cannot let me build Mike Tyson visually while giving me generic inside-boxing mechanics.

You cannot create defensive specialists if every guard inevitably breaks down the same way.

You cannot create great counterpunchers if the game does not understand timing.

You cannot create body punchers if body punching has no meaningful geometry.

You cannot create rope specialists if rope interactions barely exist.

That is why graphics, mechanics, animation, AI, physics, and presentation have to support creation.

The pieces are connected.

---

Graphics Matter More When Creation Is Central

If you expect Create-A-Boxer to carry part of the roster burden, the visual technology needs to be exceptional.

Players need to look at a community-created boxer and think:

That looks like a professionally built character.

Not:

That obviously came from Create-A-Boxer.

The visual gap between licensed boxers and created boxers should become extremely small.

That means better:

• skin rendering

• hair

• facial geometry

• body sculpting

• cloth simulation

• sweat

• bruising

• swelling

• cuts

• muscle deformation

• lighting

• facial animation

• age representation

• tattoos

• equipment fitting

If community-created boxers look convincing during introductions, weigh-ins, broadcasts, corners, knockdowns, and post-bout sequences, the roster can become almost limitless.

---

Animation Matters Even More Than Graphics

A boxer can look perfect in a screenshot and still feel completely wrong once the bell rings.

That is why animation diversity is essential.

Created boxers need access to enormous animation libraries.

Not one generic animation package.

Give us variations for:

• walking

• bouncing

• stalking

• retreating

• circling

• pivoting

• entering range

• leaving range

• slipping

• rolling

• blocking

• parrying

• catching

• clinching

• breaking from clinches

• inside positioning

• resetting

• showing fatigue

• being hurt

• recovering

• celebrating

• sitting in the corner

• entering the ring

Then allow those animation families to blend procedurally according to the boxer we created.

That is when creation begins generating genuine individuality.

---

Presentation Can Make Fictional Boxers Feel Real

This is another part of the equation that gets underestimated.

Presentation matters enormously.

If I create a boxer named Marcus "Night Train" Bell from Newark, New Jersey, the game should treat him like he belongs in that world.

The ring announcer should say his name if the name system supports it.

Commentators should discuss his record.

They should mention his hometown.

His gym.

His previous bouts.

His winning streak.

His losses.

His championship history.

His rivalries.

His age.

His move up in weight.

His amateur background.

The broadcast should display professional graphics.

Records should update.

Career accomplishments should follow him.

Crowd reactions should change as he becomes popular.

His entrance should evolve.

If he becomes a champion, the presentation surrounding him should change.

Now a created boxer no longer feels like something I inserted into the game.

He feels like a boxer who exists inside the game's boxing world.

That distinction is crucial.

---

The Creation Suite Should Go Far Beyond Create-A-Boxer

And if publishers really want to increase longevity, do not stop with boxers.

Give us a complete boxing creation ecosystem.

Create-A-Trainer

Create coaching philosophies, strengths, weaknesses, corner behavior, personalities, relationships, and teaching specialties.

Create-A-Gym

Choose location, equipment, atmosphere, reputation, training specialties, staff, sparring pools, and gym culture.

Create-A-Promotion

Build a promotional company, sign boxers, organize cards, develop prospects, negotiate opportunities, and compete with CPU-controlled promotions.

Create-A-Organization

Build fictional sanctioning bodies, ranking structures, titles, mandatory rules, and championship policies.

Create-A-Belt

Design championship belts with custom plates, straps, logos, colors, text, and division rules.

Create-An-Arena

Small gym.

Ballroom.

Casino.

Convention center.

Outdoor venue.

Massive stadium.

Historical hall.

Create-A-Broadcast

Create overlays.

Scorecards.

Tale-of-the-tape presentations.

Camera packages.

Replay styles.

Commentary teams.

Graphics.

Logos.

Introductions.

Create-A-Boxing Style

This could become one of the most important systems of all.

Let players author reusable boxing identities and apply them to new boxers.

Now imagine what the community would build.

That is not a basic sports game anymore.

That is a boxing construction kit.

---

Community Sharing Could Make the Roster Explode

This is where the idea becomes even more powerful.

Allow players to share creations.

A great creator spends hours making a highly detailed boxer.

Another player downloads him in seconds.

Someone builds an entire 1980s heavyweight roster.

Another person builds 1990s middleweights.

Someone recreates regional prospects.

Someone builds an original women's boxing universe.

Someone creates fictional promotions.

Someone recreates a legendary gym.

Someone builds a completely original 500-boxer universe.

Now imagine sorting community creations by:

• era

• weight class

• country

• gender

• popularity

• rating

• downloads

• realism

• historical

• fictional

• career-ready

• visual accuracy

Suddenly the official roster is only one layer of the game.

That is how Create-A-Boxer can carry a boxing videogame.

---

SCI Proved Something Important, But Not What Some People Think

Steel City Interactive proved there is demand.

Undisputed surpassed one million copies sold shortly after its full launch. (Game Developer)

That matters.

But I do not look at Undisputed and say:

"See, just copy that."

No.

Its execution was way off in important areas compared with what I believe a true boxing simulation can become.

For me, that is precisely why the situation should interest other publishers.

People showed up even though the product did not fully deliver the depth some of us expected from a modern boxing simulation.

That should make EA, 2K, and other companies curious.

What happens if someone combines that proven demand with:

better boxing mechanics,

deeper defense,

better inside boxing,

true clinching,

more individualized movement,

better CPU boxing,

more authentic fatigue,

better footwork,

deeper career systems,

better presentation,

and a creation suite dramatically beyond what we have previously received?

That question has not been answered.

---

And Then There Is the Strange Silence Around Dimps

There is another boxing project that should be part of this conversation.

In May 2025, Dimps officially announced a collaboration with The Ring to develop a new boxing videogame. The announcement is particularly interesting because Dimps described the project as using original characters, rather than building the concept entirely around a roster of licensed real-world boxers. (Dimps)

That immediately caught my attention.

Because it touches the exact argument I am making here.

A boxing videogame can be constructed around something other than the assumption that licensed stars must carry the entire product.

But then comes the frustrating part.

As of August 24, 2026, Dimps' official English news page still lists the May 13, 2025 boxing announcement, while its subsequent news items cover other projects and company updates. I have not found a newer boxing-specific announcement there. (Dimps)

That is more than a year of public silence from the original announcement.

What is happening with it?

What kind of boxing game is it?

How deep is the creation system?

Are those original boxers fixed characters?

Can we create our own?

How realistic is the boxing?

What does the movement system look like?

What does defense look like?

What kind of career structure does it have?

Is it simulation?

Hybrid?

Arcade?

Something else entirely?

We still do not know enough.

And this silence is another example of why boxing videogame fans constantly feel as though they are left standing outside the door waiting for somebody to tell us what is actually happening.

---

Dimps Could Accidentally Prove the Entire Point

The Dimps project has an opportunity I hope it understands.

If you are already creating a boxing videogame centered on original boxers, then you need to make the boxing systems themselves carry enormous weight.

You cannot lean on:

Muhammad Ali.

Mike Tyson.

Canelo Alvarez.

Terence Crawford.

Naoya Inoue.

Claressa Shields.

Katie Taylor.

Or another famous name to automatically create interest in every bout.

The original boxer has to become interesting because of:

appearance,

personality,

style,

movement,

record,

career history,

abilities,

weaknesses,

rivalries,

presentation,

and what actually happens inside the ring.

That could be fascinating.

And if the game also has an extraordinary creation suite, then an original-character boxing project could demonstrate something major:

Real boxers are valuable, but they are not the only way to build value in a boxing videogame.

The concern is that we know too little about the Dimps project to know whether that is where it is headed.

That silence needs to end eventually.

---

Imagine a Boxing Game Where the Community Builds the Missing Generations

This is what I think publishers have not fully appreciated.

Suppose the official game launches with 80 licensed boxers.

But the creation suite is so advanced that within six months the community has produced:

5,000 believable boxers.

Different eras.

Different countries.

Different divisions.

Different styles.

Different gyms.

Different promoters.

Different organizations.

Different universes.

Now the game is no longer dependent on one static roster.

A missing boxer does not mean a missing matchup.

A new prospect appearing in real boxing does not require waiting nine months for the developer.

A player can build him.

And when the official version eventually arrives through DLC, people can choose the licensed version.

This is not an argument against licensing.

It is an argument for reducing the entire game's dependence on licensing.

---

Then Licensed DLC Becomes an Expansion Instead of a Rescue Mission

That is where DLC makes much more sense.

The base game is already strong.

Creation already carries enormous value.

Then licensed boxer DLC expands it.

Now DLC becomes:

"Here is another professionally scanned and officially licensed boxer with unique commentary, animations, attire, career data, and presentation."

That has value.

A percentage of the economics can also help compensate the boxer depending on the agreement.

This is exactly why my Round4Round experience matters to my skepticism about the constant licensing excuse.

There are multiple ways to structure a roster.

There are multiple ways to compensate boxers.

And there are multiple ways to make the game valuable without needing every major name before launch.

---

Why Aren't EA or 2K Even Asking?

This brings me back to one of the questions that bothers me the most.

Why not conduct a survey?

Seriously.

What is the risk in asking?

Not:

"Do you want Fight Night back?"

Go deeper.

Ask:

Would you buy a boxing videogame with 60 licensed boxers and an extremely deep creation system?

What about 40 licensed boxers?

80?

100?

Would you accept fewer licensed boxers if the gameplay were substantially more realistic?

Would you accept fewer legends if you could accurately create and share boxers?

How important is visual creation?

How important is style creation?

How important is career depth?

How important is CPU-vs-CPU?

How important is offline play?

How important are community downloads?

How important are historical rules?

How important is presentation?

How important are women boxers?

How important is amateur boxing?

How important are gyms and trainers?

Would you purchase officially licensed boxer DLC?

Would you build fictional boxing universes?

Would you recreate historical eras?

Would you play a game containing both real and created boxers?

These questions directly address the supposed licensing problem.

So ask them.

---

Maybe the Industry Would Discover Something It Has Been Overlooking

Maybe players do not need 200 licensed boxers on launch day.

Maybe they need 70 excellent ones and extraordinary creation tools.

Maybe they would rather have 80 boxers who actually behave differently than 200 who feel interchangeable.

Maybe they would rather have an advanced boxing engine than another enormous roster list.

Maybe they would rather create missing legends themselves than watch half the development budget disappear trying to secure every famous name.

Maybe they want both real and fictional boxing.

Maybe they want the ability to build entire generations.

But the companies have to actually ask.

---

Build the Boxing First

That is the sentence I keep coming back to.

Build the boxing first.

Build great footwork.

Build realistic range.

Build weight transfer.

Build balance.

Build believable punches.

Build defensive layers.

Build guard positioning.

Build slips.

Build rolls.

Build parries.

Build catches.

Build inside boxing.

Build clinching.

Build rope interaction.

Build corner behavior.

Build intelligent referees.

Build judging.

Build stamina.

Build damage.

Build injuries.

Build adaptive CPU behavior.

Build excellent physics.

Build authentic animation.

Build broadcasts.

Build career depth.

Build a living universe.

And then put one of the deepest creation systems ever made in a sports videogame on top of it.

Now you have something that can survive whether Boxer X signs a licensing agreement or not.

---

A Great Boxing Game Should Create Its Own Stars Too

This part could be revolutionary.

Imagine starting career mode and meeting a completely fictional CPU-generated prospect.

You have never heard of him because he does not exist in the real world.

But he is 19 years old.

6-foot-3.

Long reach.

Excellent jab.

Poor inside defense.

Unusually calm temperament.

Fast learner.

Regional amateur champion.

Starts his professional career 8-0.

Becomes 17-0.

Knocks out a contender.

Wins a championship.

Defends it seven times.

Eventually meets your created boxer.

By then, you know who he is.

The game created a star.

That is what a living sports universe can do.

You no longer need every bit of drama imported from reality.

The simulation generates its own history.

Its own champions.

Its own upsets.

Its own legends.

Its own rivalries.

Its own eras.

Now imagine combining those generated careers with real licensed boxers and community creations.

That could provide decades of gameplay.

---

This Is the Boxing Game I Think Publishers Are Missing

The future of boxing videogames should not be:

Who licensed the biggest roster?

It should be:

Who built the deepest boxing world?

That is a far more interesting competition.

EA could enter.

2K could enter.

SCI could dramatically expand its approach.

Dimps could surprise everybody.

Another studio could emerge.

But somebody needs to understand that the answer is not necessarily throwing enormous amounts of money at every recognizable boxer and hoping the names carry an average game.

Do the opposite.

Build an extraordinary game.

Build technology capable of making every boxer feel different.

Build creation powerful enough to generate thousands more.

Then pursue licenses strategically.

---

That Is Why the "Boxers Are Too Expensive" Excuse Does Not End the Conversation

Some boxers may be expensive.

Some may not.

Some deals may be difficult.

Others may be surprisingly achievable.

My experience with Round4Round showed me that a small independent project could secure agreements involving more than one hundred boxers, including legends, men, and women.

SCI showed that the audience for boxing videogames is still there. Undisputed crossed the one-million-sales mark despite being the first major boxing release in years. (Game Developer)

Dimps and The Ring have gone in another direction entirely by announcing a project built around original characters, although the lack of a substantive public boxing update since May 2025 leaves major questions unanswered. (Dimps)

Put those things together and I see something very different from:

"Boxing videogames are too difficult because boxers cost too much."

I see an industry that has not fully explored the alternatives.

---

Create-A-Boxer Could Carry the Game

That is my point.

Not because real boxers do not matter.

They do.

Not because licenses are unnecessary.

They are valuable.

Not because every boxer will accept a small deal.

They will not.

But because the success of a boxing videogame should not live or die according to whether every famous boxer agrees to appear.

Give me world-class graphics.

Give me realistic mechanics.

Give me hundreds of meaningful boxer tendencies and capabilities.

Give me individualized animations.

Give me authentic physics.

Give me intelligent CPU boxing.

Give me presentation worthy of a championship broadcast.

Give me a massive career universe.

Give me deep offline options.

Give me sharing.

And then give me a Create-A-Boxer system powerful enough that I can create almost anybody or invent somebody completely new and have the game treat that boxer as though the developers built him themselves.

Now we have something different.

Now a 70-boxer licensed roster can become a world containing 700.

Then 7,000.

Now DLC can expand the official roster rather than rescue an empty game.

Now licensing is part of the strategy rather than the entire strategy.

Now missing boxers are inconveniences rather than fatal weaknesses.

Now the community becomes part of the game's longevity.

And now EA, 2K, SCI, Dimps, or whoever else wants to make a boxing videogame has a much bigger opportunity than merely building another roster.

They can build a boxing platform.

That is why I want these companies to stop asking themselves whether they can afford every boxer in boxing.

Ask something more ambitious:

Can we build a boxing videogame so deep that the sport can continue growing inside it whether every boxer signs or not?

If the answer is yes, then the old licensing excuse becomes a lot less convincing.

And if the companies still do not know whether sports gamers would support something like that?

There is an extremely simple place to begin.

Put out the poll.

Run the survey.

And finally ask boxing videogame fans what kind of game we would actually buy.