Street Fighter creator Nishiyama Takahashi is working with the long-term boxing magazine The Ring to develop a brand new boxing game. The news was revealed on the official X-account of Turki Aralsif, chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Bureau. Alalshikh acquired the American publication The Ring in November 2024.
According to the tweet, the untitled game introduces original characters and combines “the unparalleled authority in boxing rings with decades of classic gaming experience from game developer Dimps.”
We are proud to announce the upcoming boxing game presented by the ring featuring original characters along with legendary Japanese video game designer Nishiyama Takahashi.
This strategic partnership between me and Nishiyama brings together our unparalleled authority… pic.twitter.com/lrwyyzzkpz
-TurkiAlalshikh (@turki_alshikh) May 5, 2025
Dimps is Takahashi Company in Nishiyama. The latest game was Freedom Wars Remaster, a rework of the PlayStation Vita game on a modern console, released in January 2025. According to a tweet from Aralschoff, development of boxing titles will soon begin.
The Saudi royal family has been increasingly invested in the Japanese gaming industry in recent years. In April 2024, it was revealed that 100% of the stake in Japanese gaming company SNK is currently owned by Prince Saudi Arabias Foundation. Ring Magazine is also involved in promoting SNK’s fatal outrage in the future. Boxing Match Collaboration On April 26th, 2025, at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Of course, Nishiyama himself previously worked for SNK in the 1990s, creating the deadly Fury series and produced many games with flagship SNK series such as Metal Slug and King of Fighter.
So far, Japanese responses to the announcement of the Ring x Dimples collaboration have been generally scoped. Surprising reaction “What?! I want to play it!” to curiosity about what the final game will look like.
@ryo_redcyclone, X-user who frequently posts street-related content; I responded “Commenting on the first street fighter, Nishiyama said: This time, he’s building a game based on boxing, a sport with rules, so I’d like to know what that will turn out.”
Much of the concern appears to be centered around whether boxing rules limit Nishiyama’s creativity.
While Street Fighter looks like a Balrog like Mike Tyson, his kick is clearly a violation of professional boxing rules, let alone his buffalo’s head movements. It will be interesting to see if the new Ring and Dimples boxing game adopts 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 also writes about Japanese culture and films in various publications.
