Game Republic caught up with Tim Coupe VP of Studio, Steel City Interactive as the studio announces big news that they are working on a sequel.
It’s been 18 months since the game came out. How has it all gone?
It has been a meteoric rise for Steel City. If someone had said to Ash, “You’ll deliver a boxing game with the biggest ever roster, sign exclusive deals with the likes of Muhammad Ali, build a community of hundreds of thousands of passionate boxing fans, and reach nearly six million players,” I think he would have taken that deal.
Boxing fans had been crying out for a new experience, and we are delighted to have answered the bell with Undisputed. Not everything was perfect, but we now have a solid foundation from which to build.
It’s a unique story. How did both Steel City and Undisputed come about?
It honestly sounds made up, but one day Ash and his brothers decided to make a boxing video game despite having little to no experience. Within weeks, they had built a prototype, and it grew from there.
The game developed through personal contacts, determination, and a clear desire from the boxing community to see it succeed. From having no licences, we progressed to securing every major brand in boxing, alongside some of the biggest names in the sport, past, present, and future. It is an incredible story. Not only to launch the game, but to see it become a success is something you do not often witness.
What are the biggest challenges in making an authentic boxing game?
The biggest challenges were the standards we set ourselves. We wanted to create the most complete boxing game possible. Undisputed has the biggest roster of any boxing game, the most official licences, and the widest range of punches.
More importantly, we delivered the most technical boxing game to date, with significantly more punch variation than anything that came before it. We also wanted to celebrate boxing across generations, from legends of the sport such as Muhammad Ali, to current world champions including Oleksandr Usyk, through to new faces of boxing such as Jake Paul.
With nearly six million players, we are now one of the biggest boxing platforms in the world, which gives us a unique opportunity to work with all parts of the sport.
How have things changed in the year since you’ve been here?
The biggest change has been the pace at which the company has scaled. We have grown to nearly one hundred people in a very short period of time.
While that has created a lot of opportunity, it has also meant the needs of the business have evolved. We are attracting more talent who know about Steel City Interactive and want to be part of the journey we are on.
That is a testament to the game Ash and his team created. Now the focus is on scaling in the right areas as we look to the future.
What are the challenges of scaling?
A large part of it is bringing in the right people at the right time, people who complement the existing team while preserving the spirit and energy Ash set from day one.
What’s changed as we’ve grown is our ability to attract top-tier talent. We’re able to bring in people from AAA studios and other leading organisations, not just in development but right across the business, from HR to commercial partnerships. That’s something that would have been much harder in the early days, but today we’re seeing people actively seek us out because they want to be part of the award-winning team we’re building.
You’ve worked across several companies from indies to global behemoths. How do they differ?
There are clear differences in scale, structure, and resources, but the common thread is always the same: talented people trying to create the best possible experience for players. That remains true whether you are at a global publisher or a smaller independent studio.
Larger organisations often have deep expertise, established processes, and global reach. Smaller studios can be more agile, with quicker decision-making and greater individual ownership. The attraction for joining Steel City Interactive was in the opportunity to work across multiple areas of the business, manage a broader group of stakeholders, and help shape the future of a growing studio – It is a familiar challenge, incredibly rewarding, and without a doubt very exciting.
We see you have announced you are now working on the next sequel. What can you tell us?
We have spent a lot of time working to resolve certain issues within Undisputed. We invested hundreds of hours and brought in several leading consultants to help.
As a business, we needed to decide whether to continue down that route or focus on the future. Today, we have confirmed that we are putting our full efforts into the sequel, building it from the ground up in Unreal Engine.
What makes the studio different?
It is difficult to point to one thing, but as the company evolves, we are bringing more experience, structure, and expertise into the business while working hard to retain the entrepreneurial spirit that helped get us here.
In a short space of time, the business has grown from one studio and around 20 people to nearly 100 people across three sites, including our first office in the US.
Lastly, what are the benefits you see working with Game Republic?
The biggest benefit is having an organisation that genuinely represents the games industry in the North. So much attention is often focused on the South, whether that is London, Brighton, or Silicon Spa.
It is great to have a partner fully committed to shining a light on the outstanding talent across the many game developers in the North through editorial coverage and events.
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