With that said, it’s safe to say that boxing fans have been starved of a proper boxing game for years now. Luckily, one challenger in the form of eSports Boxing Club is planning to take on Fight Night.
What Is Esports Boxing Club?
eSports Boxing Club is an upcoming indie title from a little-known UK-based studio, Steel City. The self-published title is described by its developers as the “ultimate boxing experience” that will introduce “game-changing concepts” to bring gamers “world-leading boxing simulation” all of which were reportedly “designed from the ground-up”. Now, all of these could just be empty words and promises, but the alpha footage is amazing. As you can see from the trailer above, the level of realism that the studio is aiming at is something that can only be achieved today. The way that the short’s fabric moves with every feint and how the sweat trickles and lines in between shoulder blades all make for quite an amazing-looking game with what looks like solid fundamentals. According to the developers, ESBC will feature realistic mannerisms, movement, and footwork crafted based on input from champion boxers. The game will reportedly also have an injury system that won’t shy away from the nitty gritty. This means that you can expect to see all the injuries that your fighter will take throughout the fight, blood and all. ESBC will also let players create their own boxer and play each boxer in a career mode that will include making career-changing decisions like choosing to rest and nurse an injury or risking your career in a title match. The game will even let players decide if and when they want to retire, as well as how they want to fight. Unfortunately, the developers haven’t released a release date for ESBC as of yet. However, we do know that it’ll be available for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, as well as Xbox One and Xbox Series X. The game will also be coming to the PC with an Early Access release on Steam in the cards as well. As of the moment, Steel City is hard at work to expand the game’s fighter roster by doing full-body scans of more pros.
Is Electronic Arts Going to Revive Fight Night?
Starting with Knockout Kings in 1998, EA had a yearly release until 2006. EA then released Fight Night Round 4 in 2009 and Fight Night Champion in 2011 before dropping the series entirely. EA’s next fighting game would be EA Sports UFC in 2014 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which received mixed reviews and never got a sequel. Now, we have no way to tell if Electronic Arts is going to revive Fight Night anytime soon. However, it’s not within the realm of possibility either. Case in point, EA recently announced that they’re going to work on a new golf game after dropping their PGA Tour series of video games in 2013. The announcement comes after 2K signed Tiger Woods to an exclusivity deal with their own PGA Tour franchise. So, who knows? IF ESBC becomes big enough, then EA might think about reviving their old series of video games.
