Riyadh Season wanted to create a global campaign to hook boxing fans across continents and generations. Boosting Pay Per View subscriptions and increasing ticket sales of the event, while establishing Saudi Arabia as a premier destination for hosting world-class boxing events. This event was a unique one, it brought together two fighters from different disciplines, namely boxing and MMA, for one big slugfest. This sort of stuff you see in arcade combat games. And with both known for their Knockout records and bringing the chaos inside the ring, it was dubbed ‘Knockout Chaos. The trailer achieved international success with over 35 million cumulative views in just 16 hours and now has 21 million views solely on YouTube!

This film seamlessly merges the worlds of arcade-style combat games and reality to announce the epic battle between boxers Francis Ngannou and Anthony Joshua that took place on March 8th. The challenge lay in seamlessly blending the aesthetics of pixel art and gaming with the live-action to achieve a cohesive result that resonated with the client and director’s vision.

Multiple VFX techniques, including 3D and 2D, compositing, matte painting, motion design, traditional animation, pixel art, and FX effects, were used to create the battle and the environments. We partnered with top pixel artists, meticulously crafting each pixel of the CG doubles of the fighters throughout the film. Through the magic of VFX, we dramatize the impact of the punches that transported the fighters across cities, just like in video games.