Street Fighter Creator's Saudi-Backed Boxing Game: Japanese Fans' Reaction

The renowned creator of Street Fighter, Takashi Nishiyama, is embarking on an exciting new venture: a boxing game developed in partnership with the esteemed boxing magazine, The Ring. This collaboration was announced by Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority, via his official X account. Alalshikh, who acquired The Ring in November 2024, shared that the yet-to-be-titled game will feature original characters and leverage "The Ring’s unmatched authority in boxing" alongside "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, the company founded by Nishiyama, recently released Freedom Wars Remastered in January 2025, a modern console version of a PlayStation Vita game. According to Alalshikh's tweet, the development of this new boxing title is set to commence soon.

The Saudi Arabian royal family has shown a growing interest in Japan's gaming industry. In April 2024, it was announced that the Saudi Crown Prince's foundation had acquired 100% of the shares of Japanese game company SNK. The Ring Magazine has also been actively involved in promoting SNK's upcoming game, Fatal Fury: City of Wolves, by hosting a boxing match collaboration at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on April 26, 2025. Nishiyama, who worked at SNK in the 1990s, is well-known for creating the Fatal Fury series and contributing to other flagship SNK series like Metal Slug and King of Fighters.

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Japanese fans have expressed a mix of surprise and curiosity about the The Ring x Dimps collaboration. Reactions range from enthusiastic exclamations like “What?!! I want to play it!” to intrigue about the final product. X user @ryo_redcyclone, known for his Street Fighter content, commented on the announcement: “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.”

There is some concern among fans about whether the structured rules of boxing might limit Nishiyama's creative freedom, especially given the unconventional characters and moves featured in his past fighting games. For instance, Street Fighter's character Balrog, a Mike Tyson lookalike, uses moves like kicks and the Buffalo Head, which clearly violate professional boxing regulations. It will be fascinating to see if The Ring and Dimps' new boxing game opts for a realistic portrayal of the sport or if it will break the rules in true Nishiyama fashion.