**Can Steel City Interactive Survive Long Enough to Save Undisputed?**

A fresh investigative deep dive into studio survival, engine transitions, and the shrinking runway behind the most troubled boxing game in modern gaming.

The story of Undisputed is no longer simply about a video game. It’s about whether a small studio can survive the weight of its own promises. Steel City Interactive (SCI) has found itself in a rare position: guardians of a sport that has been absent from AAA development for over a decade. With that honor comes pressure — the kind that can elevate a studio or crush it outright.

Today, the core question facing the community is brutally direct:

**Can SCI survive long enough to fix Undisputed, let alone rebuild it in Unreal Engine 5?**

To answer this, we must examine three interconnected forces:

Economics of survival
Technical demands of rebuilding a combat sport engine
Loss of confidence from fans, publishers, and investors

This investigation addresses them head-on.

I. The Studio Survival Question: Why Time Is SCI’s Real Enemy

Small studios don’t collapse because the audience hates them.
They collapse because they run out of time and money.

Undisputed is facing a shrinking runway:

Declining concurrent players
Flatlining DLC revenue
Lukewarm content reception
Rising skepticism from fans
Ongoing negative comparisons to older games
Growing doubts from the boxing community itself

In any studio, these signs trigger the same internal warning:

“We no longer have the buffer to make slow mistakes.”

A studio in this position has only two ways forward:

Option A: Show rapid progress

Deliver a major turnaround update that restores confidence and brings revenue back.

Option B: Secure outside funding

Investors, publishers, or partners supply additional runway.

Right now, SCI has not demonstrated either path publicly.

II. Why a UE5 Rebuild Is Not a Patch, It’s a Second Game

Many fans assume the UE5 project is an “upgrade” or “port.”
It’s not. It’s a full redevelopment.

A combat sports engine isn’t like a racing game engine or shooter engine. Boxing relies on:

Micro-animations
Complex blend trees
Dense collision logic
Branching defensive frames
High-frequency footwork transitions
Extremely tight input timing
AI decision trees with nuance and memory

These systems are not transferable by dragging Unity folders into Unreal.

The honest version:

A true UE5 build is a new game with the same name.

That requires:

New engineers
New animation logic
New physics layers
New hit-detection architecture
New AI models
New tools
New networking
New camera systems
New locomotion systems

SCI has never demonstrated this level of engineering before.

Expecting a studio struggling with the current build to complete a multi-year rebuild, without dramatically expanding, is unrealistic.

This leads to the next concern.

III. Talent Shortages, the Unspoken Structural Problem

You cannot ship a modern combat sports title without:

Animation engineers
Technical animators
Combat systems designers
AI programmers
Physics programmers
Engine specialists
Rendering engineers
Tool programmers
QA engineers
Feature owners
Producers with combat design experience

SCI’s team composition is largely unknown, but the output speaks for itself:
major technical roles appear unfilled or underfilled.

If these gaps remain unaddressed, a UE5 rebuild is not just challenging, it is impossible.

A studio cannot build what it is not staffed for.

IV. The Publisher Pressure Cycle, A Hidden Threat to Undisputed’s Future

Publishers invest based on momentum.
When momentum slows, publishers take control or reduce their risk.

When a game:

loses players,
loses support on forums,
loses market trust,
and stops generating confident news cycles…

…publishers often shift priorities.

In extreme cases, they pressure the studio to:

cut features
reduce scope
rush updates
or pivot toward safer monetization

None of these options support a multi-year engine rebuild.

If the publisher decides the rebuild is too expensive or too slow, they can shut it down.

This is the danger SCI now faces.

V. The Community Problem: Trust Is Not Simply “Low”, It’s Compromised

No studio survives long-term if the core fanbase loses faith.
Boxing has a unique community:

loyal
knowledgeable
opinionated
extremely detail-sensitive
vocal
emotionally invested in authenticity

When this group becomes disillusioned, the consequences are harsh and fast.

Right now, many fans feel:

unheard
misled
disappointed
skeptical
tired of excuses
tired of silence
unsure if SCI has control of the project

This erosion isn’t about “toxicity.”
It’s about consistency of delivery.

Studios can recover from bad patches.
They cannot recover from long-term distrust without significant course correction.

VI. Could SCI Still Turn This Around?

Absolutely, but only if they take corrective action that matches the scale of the problem.

Here’s what recovery looks like:

1. Bring in senior technical leadership

The game needs experienced engineers who understand combat simulation architecture.

2. Rebuild communication from the ground up

Consistent, transparent, weekly updates. Not PR gloss.

3. Deliver a stability-focused, gameplay-focused overhaul

Not cosmetic DLC. Not minor tweaks.
A clear, undeniable improvement in:

footwork
animations
hit detection
defensive logic
game feel

The update has to be big enough to restart word-of-mouth.

4. Show tangible proof of the UE5 project

Not teaser posts.
Not vague announcements.

Actual development progress.

5. Secure funding

Investors, publishers, or co-developers must be involved if the UE5 timeline exceeds 24 months.

Without financial reinforcement, the rebuild cannot be completed.

VII. So… Can SCI Survive Until the UE5 Version Arrives?

If nothing changes:

No. They will not survive the multi-year development gap.

If they restructure, rehire, communicate, and re-engage the community:

Yes — they can both survive and recover.

If they deliver one genuinely transformative update in the next 6–12 months:

They earn time, trust, and revenue.

If they treat UE5 as a long-term rebuild and not a marketing bullet point:

The game has a future.

The decisive window is short.

SCI must act aggressively now, not later.

VIII. Final Assessment: Undisputed’s Future Depends on What SCI Does NEXT

There is still an audience for a real boxing simulation.
There is still goodwill waiting to be earned.
There is still fascination around the potential of a next-gen boxing engine.

But studios don’t survive on potential.
They survive on:

execution,
communication,
stability,
and delivering visible progress.

SCI is not out of the fight, but the clock is louder than ever. If they want to rebuild Undisputed into the game it was meant to be, they must first rebuild themselves.

Unreal Engine 5 will not save SCI.
SCI will save SCI, or it won’t.

The next chapter depends on their next decisions.

Poe’s Game Intel

Sunday, November 16, 2025