Monday, August 18, 2025

Can SCI Still Blame “Inexperience” After Five Years? A Reality Check for Fans

 



Can SCI Still Blame “Inexperience” After Five Years? A Reality Check for Fans


Early on, Steel City Interactive (SCI) could credibly say “we’re new.” Today, after an Early Access release, a 1.0 multi-platform launch, a £15M funding round, senior hires from EA and Codemasters, and a second UK studio, “we’re inexperienced” doesn’t hold water. Fans should know: SCI now has multiple veterans in leadership and advisory roles. steelcityinteractive.co.ukplayundisputed.comSteam StoreGames PressGame RepublicGame Developer

1) The Starting Point: A New Studio With Big Ambition (2020–2022)

SCI was founded in February 2020 in Sheffield by Ash, Asif, and Asad Habib to build a licensed boxing sim—what became Undisputed. That truly was a green-field team; even their own site stresses a mix of newcomers and veterans and that the company began as a scrappy prototype effort. steelcityinteractive.co.uk

By late 2022, SCI also brought in heavyweight oversight: Frank Sagnier (ex-Codemasters CEO) became Non-Executive Chair—a serious governance upgrade for a young studio. Prolific Northpcgamesinsider.biz

Bottom line, then: citing “inexperience” from a just-founded team in 2020–2021 was fair.

2) The Five-Year Checkpoint: What’s Changed (2023–2025)

A lot.

  • Shipped product(s): Undisputed entered Early Access on Steam on January 31, 2023; the 1.0 launch landed October 11, 2024 on PS5/Xbox Series/PC (the Steam build updated Oct 8). Once you’ve shipped, you’re not “pre-season” anymore. playundisputed.com+1Steam Store

  • Serious capital: On May 13, 2024, SCI announced “in excess of £15M” in funding led by Novator with LVP participating. That level of backing typically comes with expectations for experienced leadership and delivery discipline. Games Press

  • Veteran hires into the core: In May 2025, SCI appointed Clive Moody (long-time Codemasters exec) as VP of Product Development and Tim Coupe (ex-EA Sports UK) as VP of Studio—explicitly to bring AAA sports-franchise discipline. The announcement even quotes CEO Ash Habib noting he “started the studio with no games industry experience,” and that these hires represent the shift to a fully professionalized operation. Game Republic

  • Expanding footprint: In August 2025, SCI opened a second UK studio in Leamington Spa and simultaneously named five additional senior leaders (Heads of Tech, Art, QA, People & Culture, and MarComms). That’s not the behavior of a novice outfit; it’s a scaling company. Game Developer

Bottom line, now: with shipped SKUs, funding, and senior talent on the org chart, “we’re inexperienced” no longer explains outcomes.

3) “Do They Have Veterans?” Yes—Here Are the Obvious Ones

If you only follow patch notes, you might miss the leadership headlines. Here are some of the names fans can cite:

  • Frank Sagnier — Non-Executive Chair since 2022; former Codemasters CEO who oversaw its $1.2B sale to EA. Governance and publishing savvy at board level. Prolific North

  • Clive Moody — VP, Product Development (ex-Codemasters SVP). Tasked with delivery quality and studio production standards. Game Republic

  • Tim Coupe — VP, Studio (ex-EA Sports UK Head of Studio Operations). Focused on operations and scaling. Game Republic

  • New senior leads (2025): Sylvain Cornillon (Head of Tech), Nathan Fisher (Head of Art), Todd Matherne (Head of QA), Anna Lapworth (Head of People & Culture), Alison Beasley (Head of Marketing & Comms). These are the functions you strengthen when you move beyond “indie hustle” into sustained live ops and sequel-class development. Game Developer

4) What “Inexperience” Can—and Can’t—Explain

Can explain (early years):

  • Slower pipelines while building tools, animation libraries, and online infrastructure from scratch (2020–2022).

  • Feature churn in Early Access as the studio learns what breaks under load. (They entered EA in Jan 2023 for exactly that reason.) playundisputed.com

Can’t explain (today):

  • Core design direction, realism vs. arcade trade-offs, and roadmap priorities. Those are product strategy choices, not a lack of résumés—especially after 1.0 (Oct 2024), the £15M raise, and the 2025 leadership hires. playundisputed.comGames PressGame Republic

5) Why Fans Still Hear “They’re New” (and How to Respond)

  • Perception lag: Players who don’t read industry sites may have missed the chair appointment (2022), the funding (2024), and the VP hires / second studio (2025). Prolific NorthGames PressGame Developer

  • Live-service growing pains: Post-launch updates can feel like rookie stumbles, even inside veteran teams—especially when sim authenticity rubs against online balance. That tension is normal in sports titles, but it’s not a credential issue.

How to respond, with receipts:

  • “Founded Feb 2020 in Sheffield.” (SCI site) steelcityinteractive.co.uk

  • “EA & Codemasters veterans now run product & studio.” (Moody/Coupe) Game Republic

  • “£15M raised in May 2024.” (Press release) Games Press

  • “1.0 launched Oct 11, 2024 (multi-platform).” (Official site) playundisputed.com

  • “Leamington Spa studio opened Aug 2025 with five new senior leads.” (GameDeveloper) Game Developer

6) The Fair Verdict

  • 2020–2022: “Inexperience” was a reasonable shield.

  • 2023–2025: The shield’s gone. SCI has shipped, scaled, and brought in veteran leadership. If there are issues, they’re about vision, execution, and live-ops priorities—not whether the team is “unqualified.” playundisputed.com+1Games PressGame RepublicGame Developer

Sources you can link when debating this

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