“Play It the Way It Was Intended”: When Intent Collides With Reality in Undisputed
In game development, few phrases frustrate players more than “you’re not playing it the way it was intended.” On the surface, it sounds reasonable. Every game has rules, systems, and rhythms the developers envisioned. However, when that phrase is used to deflect criticism, especially in a sports simulation built on authenticity, it stops being an explanation and starts feeling like framing. That is the heart of the controversy around Steel City Interactive CEO Ash Habib’s comment telling players they should play Undisputed “the way it is intended.”
The issue is not that a developer has an intended vision. The issue is what happens when the intent itself is compromised by flawed systems, broken mechanics, and unmet promises, and players are then blamed for interacting with the game in ways the design itself encourages.
Intent Only Matters If the Design Supports It
Every game teaches players how to play, not through interviews or social media posts, but through mechanics, incentives, and feedback loops.
If blocking is overly safe or exploitable, if movement systems reward spam or unrealistic positioning, if stamina, damage, and risk versus reward are misaligned, or if certain tactics dominate because counters are unreliable, then players are not “playing wrong.” They are optimizing within the system they were given.
In boxing especially, players will always gravitate toward what wins rounds, what minimizes risk, what exploits defensive gaps, and what the engine fails to punish.
That is not bad sportsmanship. That is human behavior interacting with a ruleset.
If the “intended way” to play Undisputed requires players to voluntarily ignore optimal tactics, self police realism, or roleplay restraint, then the intent has already failed at the design level.
Framing the Player Instead of the Product
When a developer says “play it the way it was intended” in response to widespread criticism, it subtly reframes the issue.
The mechanics are not broken, you are just using them wrong.
The game is not bare bones, you are expecting the wrong experience.
The sport is not being disrespected, you are misunderstanding the vision.
This is not neutral language. It shifts responsibility away from design decisions and onto the audience that paid for the product.
That framing becomes especially problematic when Undisputed was marketed with promises of realism, deep boxing mechanics, respect for the nuances of the sport, and a simulation first identity that attracted massive attention and over a million views.
Players did not invent those expectations. They were sold them.
The Gap Between Promise and Reality
A major reason the phrase rings hollow is that Undisputed, as it exists today, does not reflect what initially attracted its audience.
Many players argue that the game feels mechanically unfinished, lacks depth in areas fundamental to boxing such as ring IQ, layered defense, stamina realism, and punishment, encourages exploitative behavior because systems do not properly model consequence, and strips boxing down to surface level exchanges rather than tactical warfare.
When a game presents itself as a boxing simulation but delivers something closer to a mechanical sandbox with missing guardrails, telling players to “play it as intended” sounds less like guidance and more like dismissal.
Why You Do Not Hear This From 2K or Other Sports Giants
It is telling that major sports franchises like NBA 2K, MLB The Show, and EA FC almost never tell their communities to play “the intended way.”
The reason is simple. Their systems enforce the intended experience. Exploits are patched aggressively. Meta behaviors are corrected through tuning. The burden is on the developer, not the player.
If a dominant strategy breaks realism, it is labeled a balance issue, not a player mindset issue.
Those studios understand a core truth of sports games. If the game does not force realism, players will not voluntarily uphold it.
Boxing, more than almost any other sport, depends on that enforcement.
Boxing Demands Accountability From Systems, Not Lectures
Real boxing is about risk management, punishment accumulation, fatigue, fear, momentum, and tactical sacrifice with real consequence.
A boxing game that truly respects the sport does not need to tell players how to behave. It makes unrealistic behavior fail.
If defense never collapses, blocks do not degrade meaningfully, stamina loss is not punishing, damage does not change behavior, and ring control does not matter, then the game is not being disrespected by the players. It is being simplified by the design.
The Core Issue: Intent Is Not a Shield
Ash Habib is not wrong to have a vision. Every creative lead should.
However, intent is not a shield against criticism, especially when the final product contradicts the vision, core mechanics undermine realism, and players feel misled rather than misunderstood.
When a community pushes back this hard, it is rarely because they refuse to “play properly.” It is because they recognize that the game, in its current state, does not live up to its own stated goals.
Respecting the Sport Means Owning the Shortcomings
If Undisputed wants to be taken seriously as a boxing simulation, the conversation has to shift away from “play it the way it’s intended” and toward “here is how we are fixing the systems so the intended way is unavoidable.”
That is the difference between defending a product and improving it.
Players do not want to be told how to interpret a broken experience. They want mechanics that naturally produce the experience they were promised.
Until then, criticism is not toxic. It is earned.
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