By Mehmood Ahmad: Ryan Rhodes has given an interesting interview with IFLTV outlining details of a new video game named ‘Boxing Club’ due to be released on PC by November 2020.
He confirmed names such as Ricky Hatton, Frank Bruno, Dave Coldwell, Ben Davison, Paul Dempsey, and Jonny Nelson have already committed their involvement to the game as well as cutman Jamie Sheldon and MC Craig Stevens, highlighting the range of details being considered in the game’s development.
Rhodes released snippets from the game on his social network accounts, showing the quality of the fighters’ appearances and graphics with details down to fighters beards, muscle type, and veins all clearly identifiable.
It is interesting timing as Eddie Hearn has also mentioned on interviews recently his interest in bringing boxing back to the gaming world. Hearn went as far as to say he has contacted EA Sports, the major player in sports gaming and last to bring out a boxing game (Fight Night) initially a decade ago, However, they are committed to UFC games for the foreseeable future, and this looks unlikely to change due to the sport’s popularity. Still, there is speculation the latest version of Fight Night may be brought out in 2021.
When questioned on the possibility of competing with Hearn, Rhodes was unfazed as Hearn appears to just be starting his inquiries in the gaming industry, a game can take up to two years to develop whereas ‘Boxing Club’ is due to be released in six months.
What Ryan Rhodes and Eddie Hearn have done by talking about a boxing game on social media has highlighted a major demand for an exciting new quality boxing game through a large number of comments and discussions that have since taken place. It appears the masses want this. Rhodes even thanked Hearn for giving a boost to publicity in a new boxing game.
Indeed Rhodes advised US pound for pound boxing stars, and their agents are now contacting them interested in attaching their names to the game.
This all began when Rhodes had a meeting with the Director of ‘Steel City Interactive’ earlier this year to discuss his involvement. The company had been developing the game for 12 months so that it will be close to two years in the making once released at the end of this year.
Rhodes has used his contacts within the game, such as Dean Sherriff at Empire Pro Tape, to open the floodgates to fighters to bring in as much quality assistance to the development of the game as possible.
The game aims to eclipse the success of EA Sports Fight Night all those years ago; this benchmark would be a big target to aim for competing against such a large company. However, the quality of technology, gamers, and technicians is so far advanced now, and with the support of the boom in boxing’s popularity, this could be achievable.
Rhodes declared it is easier to release the game on PC first before then bringing it out on other consoles as soon as possible after with the price being in the £35 – £45 range. He teased an exciting few months ahead as he will be sharing lots more promotion clips in stages reflecting the quality of the game’s graphics and fighting images via his social media, so this definitely could be a space to watch.
