A Call To Action: Boxers, Stop Giving Videogame Companies Exclusive Control Over Your Legacies!
Let the Boxing, Not Exclusive Licensing, Sell the Videogame!
By Poe | The Boxing Videogame Blueprint/Wishlist | Poe & The Community Speaks...
It's time for professional boxers, managers, promoters, sanctioning organizations, and the entire boxing industry to reconsider how they conduct business with boxing videogame companies.
Stop allowing one videogame company to monopolize a boxer's name, likeness, image, and legacy through restrictive exclusive licensing agreements.
Boxers should have the opportunity to appear in multiple boxing videogames, just as they can work with multiple sponsors, clothing brands, advertisers, and other commercial partners when their contracts permit it.
Why should a boxing fan have to purchase three different videogames simply because their favorite boxers are scattered across three different companies with exclusive licensing agreements?
Why should developers have to compete over who can lock up the biggest names instead of competing over who can create the best boxing experience?
And why should a boxer limit their exposure to one videogame when multiple companies could potentially introduce their brand to different audiences?
The boxing industry needs to stop treating exclusivity as the only path to valuable licensing deals.
1. Let Every Boxing Videogame Company Have an Opportunity
Imagine EA Sports, Steel City Interactive, 2K Sports, and independent developers having an opportunity to negotiate licenses with the same professional boxers.
Muhammad Ali could appear in several boxing videogames, subject to agreements with the appropriate rights holders.
Mike Tyson could be represented in different games, each offering a distinct interpretation of his boxing style, power, movement, defensive tendencies, and historical versions.
Floyd Mayweather Jr., Terence Crawford, Canelo Álvarez, Gervonta Davis, Oleksandr Usyk, and countless others could potentially reach audiences across several competing franchises.
The companies would still need to negotiate and pay for their respective licenses.
Nonexclusive does not mean free. It means the rights holder can license the same permitted rights to more than one company.
A boxer would not automatically receive more money. However, additional licensing opportunities could generate additional revenue while expanding the boxer's brand recognition.
And unlike an exclusive arrangement, the success or failure of one videogame would not necessarily determine the boxer's entire presence in the gaming marketplace.
2. Stop Making Boxing Fans Pay for Licensing Wars
Let's consider a hypothetical situation.
A boxing fan wants to play a videogame featuring Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Gervonta Davis.
But imagine those four boxers are divided between several competing games because of exclusive licensing agreements.
Now the fan has to purchase multiple games to enjoy matchups that could otherwise exist in a single title.
Depending on the platforms, the fan might also face additional hardware costs.
That is not necessarily meaningful competition. It can become competition built around restricted access to the sport's personalities.
Fans should choose which videogame to buy because of its quality, not because a publisher has exclusive control over the boxer they want to use.
No boxing fan should feel pressured into purchasing an inferior product simply to access their favorite boxer.
3. Let Boxing Mechanics, Tendencies, Traits, and Attributes Sell the Game!
This is where videogame companies should actually compete.
Not over exclusive access to a famous name.
Not over who has the largest marketing budget.
Not over which company can secure the most recognizable cover athlete.
Compete over who can best reproduce the sweet science of boxing.
A realistic boxing videogame should distinguish itself through:
Boxing mechanics: Authentic punches, combinations, counters, defense, footwork, pivots, clinching, inside boxing, and ring generalship.
Boxer tendencies: How frequently a boxer jabs, pressures, retreats, counterpunches, feints, changes rhythm, or attacks the body.
Boxer traits: Chin durability, determination, adaptability, composure, defensive discipline, recovery, and ring intelligence.
Boxer attributes: Hand speed, punching power, accuracy, reflexes, endurance, balance, coordination, and technical proficiency.
Individual personalities: Mannerisms, ring habits, signature movements, defensive postures, and characteristic reactions under pressure.
Artificial intelligence: CPU-controlled boxers that make decisions according to their individual skills, experience, tendencies, and tactical understanding.
Simulation depth: Authentic stamina, fatigue, cumulative damage, referee behavior, judging, corner strategy, and realistic knockdowns and knockouts.
Game modes and customization: Deep career systems, boxing universes, amateur boxing, historical eras, comprehensive creation tools, and meaningful offline gameplay.
The real question should be:
Which company can make Mike Tyson actually box like Mike Tyson?
Which company can reproduce Muhammad Ali's footwork, timing, defensive reflexes, and ring intelligence?
Which company can distinguish Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s defensive mastery from Pernell Whitaker's?
Which company can simulate the technical differences between Roberto Durán, Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler?
Having a boxer's likeness is not the same thing as accurately reproducing that boxer's abilities.
A recognizable face accompanied by generic animations, interchangeable tendencies, and unrealistic movement is not a complete representation of an athlete.
The license gives the company permission to represent the boxer. The quality of the simulation determines how convincingly that boxer is represented.
4. Boxers Could Benefit Financially from Nonexclusive Licensing
Consider another hypothetical example.
A boxer negotiates one exclusive videogame agreement worth $100,000.
Alternatively, that boxer might negotiate four separate nonexclusive agreements worth $35,000 each.
That would produce $140,000 in total licensing revenue.
These figures are illustrative, not actual licensing rates or guaranteed outcomes. Individual negotiations, market demand, rights packages, royalties, and contract terms determine their value.
The point is simple.
A boxer does not necessarily need one large exclusive contract to create a valuable licensing business.
Multiple nonexclusive agreements could provide recurring compensation, royalties, cross-promotional opportunities, and exposure across different gaming audiences.
Exclusivity may sometimes justify a substantial premium. Boxers should compare that premium against the opportunities they give up.
Their representatives should evaluate the full commercial picture rather than assuming that the largest immediate payment is automatically the best long-term deal.
5. Why Should Videogame Companies Be Able to Control Boxing History?
Boxing history belongs to the sport's participants, institutions, and communities. Commercial rights to individual names and likenesses, however, belong to their respective rights holders.
A videogame company should not be able to prevent another developer from accurately representing major portions of boxing history merely because it purchased exclusive commercial rights.
Think about historical matchups and boxing eras.
What happens when significant athletes are locked into different franchises?
What happens when a development studio wants to build an extensive historical boxing universe but cannot license several essential boxers?
What happens when a boxer is represented poorly in one videogame and contractually cannot appear in a competing title that might do a better job?
These arrangements can affect more than videogame rosters.
They can restrict creative possibilities, historical recreation, simulated tournaments, fantasy matchups, and competition between developers.
Nobody should have to settle for an incomplete boxing simulation simply because the rights to the sport's personalities have been divided among competing publishers.
6. My Challenge to EA, SCI, 2K, and Independent Developers
If your company believes it can deliver the best boxing videogame, prove it.
Give consumers compelling reasons to select your product.
Produce better boxing mechanics.
Develop more authentic boxer identities.
Create deeper career and universe systems.
Offer better customization.
Build believable artificial intelligence.
Create realistic presentation, officiating, and corner systems.
Respect offline gamers, not just online and competitive audiences.
And stop relying on roster exclusivity as a substitute for innovation.
Consider what genuine competition would look like if multiple companies licensed the same 100 professional boxers.
One company might develop the most convincing simulation.
Another might create the deepest career system.
Another might build the strongest historical boxing experience.
Another might offer the most innovative Creation Suite.
The competitive advantage would come from the product itself.
The best boxing videogame should win because it is the best boxing videogame, not because competitors are contractually prohibited from including certain boxers.
7. A Message to Boxers, Managers, Promoters, and Boxing Organizations
Before signing a videogame licensing agreement, ask some important questions.
To the boxers:
Why should you give one publisher control over your videogame appearances for several years?
What guarantees exist that your likeness will be used properly?
What happens if the company delays, cancels, or abandons the project?
Will you receive additional compensation for downloadable content, promotional appearances, or subsequent editions?
Could a nonexclusive agreement with several companies generate more long-term value?
To managers and legal representatives:
Are you negotiating the best overall arrangement for your client, or simply pursuing the largest initial payment?
Have you calculated the opportunity cost of exclusivity?
Have you negotiated contract expiration provisions, performance obligations, appropriate approval rights, and protections for unused licenses?
To promoters and sanctioning organizations:
Are exclusive commercial arrangements unnecessarily limiting the representation of boxing?
Could standardized, accessible licensing frameworks support more developers while still fairly compensating rights holders?
To videogame companies:
If you genuinely believe your gameplay is superior, why should your competitive strategy depend on preventing other publishers from licensing the same boxer?
And would your videogame still stand out if every competitor had access to the same athletes?
That final question deserves serious consideration.
8. A Better Licensing Model for Boxing Videogames
I'm calling for a more open, boxer-friendly licensing framework that respects intellectual property while encouraging competition.
The following principles should guide that framework:
Nonexclusive licensing as the preferred starting point. Boxers and their representatives should retain the freedom to negotiate with multiple developers.
Fair, transparent compensation. Licensing deals should provide appropriate payments, royalties where negotiated, and clearly defined commercial rights.
Limited contractual restrictions. Any exclusivity should be narrowly defined, properly compensated, and limited in duration.
Protection against unused licenses. Contracts should address delayed development, cancelled projects, and situations where a licensed boxer is never included.
Accurate representation. Boxers should have appropriate protections against misleading or unauthorized use of their likenesses.
Reasonable access for smaller developers. Licensing structures should allow independent companies to negotiate packages suited to their budgets.
Consumer-friendly practices. Boxers and their representatives should consider whether particular licensing arrangements contribute to unnecessary fragmentation, excessive costs, or restricted access for fans.
Respect for existing rights. No developer should use protected likenesses without authorization, and no boxer should be encouraged to breach an existing contract.
These principles would not eliminate every commercial obstacle. Licensing still involves separate rights, including names, likenesses, trademarks, photographs, archival footage, and other protected material.
But they would provide a more competitive foundation.
9. To the Boxing Gaming Community: Stop Rewarding Exclusivity Over Quality
Boxing videogame fans have a responsibility too.
Stop judging a game's quality solely by its roster.
A company announcing 200 licensed boxers does not automatically make that company better than one offering 100 authentically represented boxers.
A famous cover athlete does not guarantee meaningful gameplay improvements.
And a marketing campaign promising realism does not establish that the mechanics actually reproduce boxing.
Ask the developers difficult questions.
Does every boxer move alike?
Are the individual tendencies authentic?
Do the attributes influence performance realistically?
Are punches mechanically different?
Does weight transfer matter?
Do offensive and defensive styles create meaningful tactical differences?
Can you play an entire offline career without mandatory online connectivity?
Are important gameplay systems included in the base product, or are essential features being withheld behind additional purchases?
Those questions should matter more than which company secured the biggest celebrity endorsement.
10. The Final Bell: Let the Best Boxing Videogame Win!
I want multiple boxing videogame companies to succeed.
I want EA to innovate.
I want Steel City Interactive to improve.
I want 2K and other established publishers to consider entering the boxing market.
I want independent developers to have meaningful opportunities to build something revolutionary.
And above all, I want boxing fans to benefit from real competition.
That does not mean every company must create the same videogame.
One might focus on a hardcore boxing simulation. Another might focus on a hybrid experience. Another might develop an arcade-style title.
Give consumers legitimate choices.
But don't artificially limit those choices through unnecessarily restrictive licensing agreements.
My message to the boxing industry is simple:
Stop automatically surrendering exclusive control of your athletes' videogame appearances.
Negotiate smarter.
Protect your brands.
Create more licensing opportunities.
Encourage genuine competition.
And make videogame companies earn our money through their gameplay, innovation, realism, authenticity, and respect for the sport.
A realistic boxing videogame can make a hardcore fan out of a casual.
But it takes authentic boxing to accomplish that, not simply a roster of recognizable names.
LET THE BOXING SELL THE GAME!
LET THE BEST DEVELOPERS WIN!
AND LET THE FANS BENEFIT!
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