1. Introduction
After five years of development, Steel City Interactive's Undisputed—a highly anticipated simulation boxing game—remains in early access with many unfulfilled promises. Despite this, a portion of the gaming community continues to defend SCI, often making excuses or accepting vague developer explanations. This situation reflects a concerning trend in how some gamers align more with developers than holding them accountable.
2. Background on Steel City Interactive and Undisputed
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Founded: SCI emerged with a bold promise—to deliver the first realistic boxing game in over a decade.
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Hype: The game's trailers, alpha previews, and boxer reveals built immense anticipation.
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Early Access Launch: The game entered early access in January 2023, expected to evolve into a full release.
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Current State (2025): Still not fully released; foundational features are either missing, broken, or lack polish.
3. The Apologist Behavior
A. Excuses from Outside Looking In
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Some fans claim, “We don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes.”
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Others say, “Game development is hard, be patient,” as if 5 years of time is insufficient for progress.
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Comments downplay clear issues: broken mechanics, stalling content updates, lack of transparency.
B. Absorbing Developer Narratives
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SCI has blamed challenges on balancing realism and fun, difficulty acquiring licenses, and tech hurdles.
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They emphasize being a small team, trying their best, and learning along the way.
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Despite inconsistencies, many fans echo these explanations as if they're definitive truths.
4. The Problem with Apologetics
A. Blind Defense Hinders Progress
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Developers feel less urgency to improve when vocal fans shift blame away from them.
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Constructive criticism gets drowned out by defenders telling others to “just enjoy what we have.”
B. Lowering Standards for Realism
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Instead of demanding boxing authenticity, some fans now accept arcade-like changes as “necessary” or “realistic enough.”
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SCI’s rebranding of realism as a blend of fun and fantasy is now parroted by defenders.
C. Undermining Accountability
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Glitches, poor animations, unrealistic punch mechanics, limited offline features—these are brushed aside.
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SCI’s decision to prioritize marketing partnerships and content creators over core gameplay gets little pushback.
5. The Counter-Narrative: Holding Devs to Standards
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True fans of boxing and gaming want the best boxing simulation, not just a game with boxers.
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People who’ve waited years deserve transparency, follow-through, and a finished product.
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Constructive feedback is not hate—it’s a necessary push to keep devs on track.
6. Thoughts
It’s understandable to support a game you want to succeed, but support should never come at the cost of honesty. Apologizing for half-baked features, ignoring five years of time, and accepting mediocrity as the standard only delays the game’s potential. If fans really care about boxing games, they’ll stop making excuses for SCI—and start demanding a game that lives up to its promise.
7. The Cult of Early Access Normalization
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Early Access as a Shield: SCI has leaned heavily on the early access label to avoid accountability. While early access is meant for polishing and final touches, Undisputed feels like a game still in mid-alpha in some core systems.
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“It’s Just Early Access” Mantra: Apologists echo this line as if it's a hall pass for broken fundamentals. But after five years of development, key gameplay mechanics shouldn’t feel like tech demos.
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Stunted Progress: Other indie devs with smaller teams have released more complete, balanced, and responsive games in less time—without leaning on “early access” as a permanent excuse.
8. Double Standards in Community Expectations
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Demanding Excellence Elsewhere: Gamers hold AAA studios accountable for unfinished products. Why does SCI get a pass?
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Selective Patience: The same players who criticize EA or 2K for bugs, lack of depth, or recycled content are strangely forgiving when it comes to Undisputed's regression in updates, incomplete feature set, or unrealistic gameplay patches.
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Excusing Inconsistencies: SCI frequently walks back previous promises or explanations—yet some fans still absorb and defend the new narratives without question.
9. The Dangerous Impact on Future Boxing Games
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Setting a Low Bar: If Undisputed is considered “good enough” by default, it discourages competition from doing better. It signals that authenticity and depth aren’t required to be successful in the boxing game space.
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Devaluing the Genre: Accepting underwhelming development and design choices reaffirms the idea that the boxing genre isn’t worth a full, polished, feature-complete release.
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Risk of Abandonment: If SCI doesn’t deliver and players eventually grow tired, publishers might see boxing as a failed niche—hurting the long-term chances of a truly elite sim boxing game from ever being funded.
10. The Fanbase Is Divided – and That’s By Design
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Divide and Conquer Tactic: Developers benefit when fanbases are fractured—between loyalists and critics. It reduces collective pressure and allows them to cherry-pick which feedback to address.
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Constructive Voices Silenced: Many boxing sim advocates have been labeled as “haters” or “too negative” simply for pointing out legitimate flaws. Forums, Discords, and social spaces become echo chambers where dissent is unwelcome.
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Gaslighting the Realists: Those asking for realism, depth, or promised features are told they’re unrealistic or don’t “understand game development,” despite following boxing and gaming for decades.
11. Missed Opportunities & Broken Promises
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No Real Career Depth Yet: The career mode lacks soul, immersion, and depth. It's far from the dynamic systems fans imagined, with limited trainer AI, gym systems, rivalries, or long-term evolution.
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Weight Classes Underutilized: Despite boxers from various divisions, the lack of meaningful weight management, true rehydration effects, or size differences makes it mostly cosmetic.
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Boxing Fundamentals Ignored: No realistic footwork systems, minimal clinch mechanics, lack of stamina-based strategy, weak punch variety, and little incentive to box intelligently—despite claiming to be a sim.
12. Final Reflection: Realism Isn’t a Buzzword
Steel City Interactive didn’t just sell a boxing game—they sold hope. Hope for a return to a rich, nuanced, boxing simulation experience. But hope fades when realism is reduced to a buzzword and when fans start doing PR for the devs rather than holding them accountable.
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