Will Street Fighter Creator’s New Saudi-Backed Boxing Game Pack a Punch? Japanese Fans React

Street Fighter creator Takashi Nishiyama is developing a brand new boxing game in collaboration with long-running boxing magazine The Ring. The news was revealed on the official X account of Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority. Alalshikh acquired American publication The Ring back in November 2024.

According to the tweet, the untitled game will feature original characters and combine “The Ring’s unmatched authority in boxing with game developer Dimps’ decades-long experience in crafting classic games.”

Together with legendary Japanese video game designer Takashi Nishiyama, I am proud to announce a forthcoming boxing game presented by The Ring featuring original characters.

This strategic partnership between myself and Nishiyama brings together our unmatched authority in… pic.twitter.com/LRWyyZzkpz

— TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) May 5, 2025

Dimps is Takashi Nishiyama’s company. Its most recent game was Freedom Wars Remastered, a reworking of a PlayStation Vita game for modern consoles released in January 2025. According to the tweet from Alalshikh, development of the boxing title will begin soon.

The Saudi Arabian royal family has become increasingly invested in Japan’s gaming industry in recent years. In April 2024, it was revealed that 100% of Japanese game company SNK’s shares were now owned by the Saudi Crown Prince’s foundation. The Ring Magazine has also been involved in promoting SNK’s upcoming Fatal Fury: City of Wolves, hosting a boxing match collaboration at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on April 26, 2025. Of course, Nishiyama himself previously worked at SNK in the 1990s, creating the Fatal Fury series and producing many games in flagship SNK series like Metal Slug and King of Fighters.

Japanese people’s reactions to the announcement of The Ring x Dimps collaboration so far have generally ranged from surprised reactions of “What?!! I want to play it!” to curiosity as to what the final game will be like.

@ryo_redcyclone, an X user who frequently posts Street Fighter-related content, responded to the news with: “Commenting on the first Street Fighter, Nishiyama said: ‘I chose to focus on street fighting because established sports are restricted by rules.’ This time he is making a game based on boxing, a sport with rules, so I’m curious to see how it will turn out.”

Much of the concern seems to center upon whether boxing’s rules will restrict Nishiyama’s creativity, considering the roster of quirky characters and crazy moves that can be found in his previous fighting games.

Although Street Fighter has Mike Tyson lookalike Balrog, his kicks, not to mention his Buffalo Head move, clearly violate professional boxing rules. It will be interesting to see whether The Ring and Dimps’ new boxing game goes for a realistic or rule-breaking approach.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.