Exciting news has hit the gaming world as Takashi Nishiyama, the legendary creator of Street Fighter, announces his latest project—a brand new boxing game developed in collaboration with The Ring magazine. This revelation came via a tweet from Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority, who acquired The Ring back in November 2024. The untitled game promises to feature original characters and harness "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, led by Nishiyama, recently released Freedom Wars Remastered in January 2025, a modern console reworking of a PlayStation Vita title. The tweet from Alalshikh suggests that development on this new boxing game will commence soon.
The Saudi Arabian royal family has shown a keen interest in the Japanese gaming industry, evidenced by their acquisition of 100% of SNK’s shares in April 2024. The Ring Magazine, now under Saudi ownership, has been actively involved in promoting SNK’s upcoming title, Fatal Fury: City of Wolves, including a unique boxing match collaboration event at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on April 26, 2025. Notably, Nishiyama, who worked at SNK in the 1990s, is the mind behind the Fatal Fury series and numerous entries in the Metal Slug and King of Fighters franchises.
The 10 Best Fighting Games
View 11 Images
The Japanese gaming community has responded with a mix of surprise and anticipation to the announcement of The Ring and Dimps’ collaboration. Reactions range from enthusiastic surprised reactions like “What?!! I want to play it!” to curiosity about the final product. X user @ryo_redcyclone, known for his Street Fighter posts, responded to the news by highlighting Nishiyama's past comments on Street Fighter: “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 considerable interest and some concern about how the strict rules of boxing will influence Nishiyama’s creative approach, especially given the quirky characters and unconventional moves seen in his prior fighting games. For instance, Street Fighter's Balrog, despite resembling Mike Tyson, incorporates moves like kicks and the Buffalo Head, which clearly breach professional boxing regulations. It remains to be seen whether The Ring and Dimps’ new boxing game will adhere to realism or embrace rule-breaking creativity.
