Following a blockbuster episode of AEW Dynamite and the taping of Saturday’s Rampage in Pittsburgh, All Elite Wrestling president Tony Khan reportedly took to the stage for a major announcement: that the upcoming AEW wrestling video game will be known as AEW: Fight Forever. To support the release, fans at the show were invited to help record a number of chants which will be used in the game.
The title, which is being developed by Yuke’s (WWE Smackdown!), is positioned as a rival to the WWE 2K throne. With this year’s WWE 2K22 being a major hit, Fight Forever will certainly have its work cut out for it – but AEW EVP Kenny Omega has previously made clear that the company does not have the same production budget as WWE.
Instead of focussing on ‘gorgeous’ graphics, Omega told Fightful in early 2022 that pure wrestling would be the most important part of the game.
‘For me, there is a large emphasis on the wrestling aspect of the game … we want it to feel like how a match would flow, but within a video game,’ he said. ‘The matches, in general, will go a little quicker but we want them to feel like the user is able to assume the role of their favourite AEW superstar … and when they mix it up in the ring in whatever match type they choose, that they’re having a fun time.’
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The company had reportedly spent more than US $10 million (AU $13.6 million) on the title as of late 2021, although updates on gameplay have been slow to arrive.
So far, we’ve seen snippets of how matches will occur, and a number of stylised character models for current wrestlers like Kenny Omega, Jungle Boy, and Darby Allin. It was also recently announced that the late Owen Hart will be included in the game, marking his first appearance in a wrestling title since 2004.
With fan chants now being recorded, it appears development is steadily progressing – although it’s still unknown how close the game is to a final release. It’s been in the works since at least 2020, and currently speculation has it penned in for a late 2022 launch – potentially around September – but so far, this date has not been substantiated.
For now, we’ll have to wait and see what’s in the works for AEW: Fight Forever. With so few mainstream wrestling games out there, it could be the first real competition the WWE 2K series has faced – but only time will tell as work on the title advances.
