The Technology Exists to Give Boxers Realistic Animations – So Why Are Developers Taking the Lazy Route?

The evolution of sports video games has brought unprecedented levels of realism to various sports, from football to basketball. Yet, when it comes to boxing, there’s a glaring issue—animations and movesets often fail to reflect the real-life tendencies and styles of boxers. The technology exists to replicate these movements accurately, but it seems like developers are choosing to cut corners. Why?

Motion Capture and AI-Powered Animation: The Tools Are There

Modern sports games use motion capture (mo-cap) to capture athlete movements with pinpoint accuracy. Fighters can have their punches, footwork, and defensive movements tracked and digitized, allowing for hyper-realistic gameplay. However, motion capture is not the only method. AI-driven animation techniques, such as those used in FIFA and NBA 2K, allow for realistic player movement without needing every single action to be recorded by a live athlete.

More impressively, companies now have access to technology that can analyze real footage of fighters and extract their unique movements—no mo-cap suit required. AI-driven animation tools, like motion matching and machine learning-based animation synthesis, can break down frame-by-frame footage of a boxer in action and replicate their movement patterns within a game engine. These advancements mean that developers no longer have the excuse of needing every boxer to wear a motion-capture suit to get realistic animations.

Animators Could Fill the Gaps – But Developers Won’t Let Them

Even if motion capture isn’t perfect or a boxer isn’t available for a mo-cap session, skilled animators can manually tweak and add missing movements. This is standard practice in other sports games. When a quarterback in Madden needs a specific throwing motion, or a soccer player in FIFA requires a certain dribbling style, animators refine the details by hand. Boxing should be no different.

Instead, developers often recycle generic animations and apply them to every fighter, removing the individuality that makes boxing special. This results in fighters moving and punching in ways that don’t match their real-life tendencies. A swarmer shouldn’t have the same movement patterns as a counterpuncher, and a defensive specialist shouldn’t react to punches like an aggressive brawler.

What’s Stopping Developers From Doing It Right?

1. Cost-Cutting and Rushed Development Timelines

Many gaming companies are more concerned with meeting deadlines and maximizing profits than delivering the best possible product. Instead of investing in refining unique animations, they take shortcuts.

2. Lack of Knowledge or Passion for Boxing

Some developers may simply not understand boxing at a deep enough level to realize how much animations and movesets matter. Instead of working with experts to ensure fighters feel authentic, they settle for generic templates.

3. The “It’s Good Enough” Mentality

When boxing games have been absent from the market for so long, developers know fans will accept almost anything. Because of this, they don’t feel pressure to go the extra mile.

The Fans Deserve Better

If other sports games can capture real-life movement down to the smallest detail, why should boxing games be left behind? The technology exists. Skilled animators are available. The only thing missing is the willingness to do the work.

Developers need to realize that boxing fans are not satisfied with generic animations. Every fighter should feel unique, just like in real life. If developers refuse to put in the effort, then they’re not just being lazy—they’re disrespecting the sport itself.

It’s time to demand better.