Boxing Club Manager Enters Early Access on Steam, Bringing a Management Sim to Boxing Gaming

Alternative Software’s PC boxing gym management simulator is now available on Steam in its Early Access form.

Image Source: Alternative Software, via YouTube

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Started off as a sports writer with a focus on football, ice hockey, boxing, and American football. After leaving RealSport, I diversified my writing substantially, kept with sport, but also learned much more heavily into pop culture, iGaming, travel, business, tech, and especially gaming. Later, I co-founded Outsider Gaming, was the primary writer and editor-in-chief, and helped to train and bring on the writing talents who also had a passion for gaming. Now, I’m writing everything and anything, from sports to gaming, SEO-optimised content to reviews and previews.

Published on: Jan 25, 2022 | Updated on: Mar 21, 2023

The gaming world is starved of boxing titles. The billed triple-A eSports Boxing Club is still in development, the arcade-rumbler Creed Champions offers a Rocky-universe take on high-impact boxing, and Round4Round Boxing has been very, very quiet.

The best of what we have right now tends to come in the form of hidden indie gems. Boxing Champs is a fun game with a surprisingly good range of controls, and Victory Road is a sound retro-style management sim. Now, we have another to add to the list: Boxing Club Manager.

Boxing Club Manager enters Early Access with a discount

The PC boxing gym management and simulation game is now available on Steam in its Early Access form. As such, people who buy in at this point can get involved as the game develops but do need to come in knowing that Boxing Club Manager is still under development.

It’s certainly a novel entry into contemporary sports gaming, especially if it lives up to its billing as a fully-fledged boxing gym sim. As the game description states: “You’ve waited long enough. Boxing management is now in your gloves. Train and steer your boxers to glory in the ring!”

Until 1 February, in fact, those who purchase Boxing Club Manager will get 20 per cent off of its asking price, which makes it £23.99 in the UK rather than £29.99, and in the US, $27.99 on sale, and $34.99 at its full price. It’ll be interesting to see what user reviews come through now that Boxing Club Manager has hit Early Access.

A boxing gym simulator with hundreds of potential fighters and customisation options

As you’d hope from a sports management simulation game, Boxing Club Manager details itself as having a vast range of content. There are 17 weight classes, 68 gyms, managers, and trainers, and over 600 boxers; most importantly, all of the decisions are your own.

You get to pick your boxers to nurture, the trainers with knowledge in the areas that you want to focus on, and your manager’s perks and back story. You’ll need to dictate the use of training points, upgrade your gym’s facilities, and sign on with sponsors. Then, on fight night, you’ll enter a 3D match engine and call your tactics.

If the over 600 boxers and nearly 70 gyms aren’t enough, Boxing Club Manager will also have an editor to enable you to create your own. Steam Workshop will also be an active feature of the game, enabling you to upload and share boxer and gym creations with the community.

Filling a void in sports gaming

British development team Alternative Software are known for their rugby union, rugby league, and MMA management simulation games. Given the dearth of boxing games, let alone in-depth boxing management simulators, Boxing Club Manager will at least be a welcomed sight.

That said, the reviews of the most recent games and step into MMA have been mixed overall. Rugby League Team Manager 3, released in May 2020, has an 81 per cent score, while the later release of Rugby Union Team Manager 3 clocks in at 69 per cent. MMA Team Manager, released in March 2019, has a 39 per cent review score on Steam at this time.

Boxing Club Manager is now available as an Early Access game on Steam, as of 25 January 2022.