The future of AEW video games currently hangs in the balance.
Multiple sources have told me that the decision makers at AEW are “strongly considering” finding a new development partner moving forward. This comes after numerous issues surrounding the game’s development.
“They [AEW] knows that things didn’t go the way they expected,” one source said. “The game was over-budget and it under delivered when it came out. It has AEW strongly considering moving to a new developer for their games.”
AEW Fight Forever launched in June 2023 to mixed response. While the gameplay was fun and easy to pick up, the lack of depth and various bugs was a turnoff for many players. In April 2024, Insider Gaming was told that there was pressure on the developers to “deliver something faster than what it should’ve been”.
Now, AEW is trying to figure out where to go with their games. The original contract with Yuke’s called for one year of post launch updates which came in the form of four season passes that added wrestlers, moves, game modes, and venues. The last DLC pack game out in July, adding Jay White to the roster. There have been talks for releasing recently signed wrestlers Will Ospreay, Kazuchika Okada, and Mercedes Mone to the game’s roster, but it’s unclear where those talks between AEW and Yuke’s stand.
The sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity say that the primary focus is around the gaming future as a whole.
“Everything is on the table,” Insider Gaming was told. “There were some positives with the Yuke’s relationship, and some feel that with a foundation in place, another game could make things better rather than giving up after one attempt. But you can’t argue that there are concerns with how things went in the final year of the game’s development.”
Issues From The Start
Issues with Yuke’s and AEW date back to before Fight Forever was released. There was a lot of butting heads between both sides, including involving AEW executive vice president Kenny Omega. At one point, I was told Omega was frustrated to the point of “hating” working with Yuke’s while others felt that Yuke’s was trying to “take advantage” of Omega due to his inexperience around helping with game development.
“No one was really happy when the game came out,” a source said. “Even before launch, internal talks started about whether to continue with the game with Yuke’s, bring it over to a new developer and either build on what’s been done or start from scratch, or leave the console market and continue to focus on mobile.
“A lot of people in the company want another shot with a console game, but it only matters if the one signing the checks wants to trust them again.”
When asked where that sits, I was told, “No one knows.”
AEW owns the rights to the build for Fight Forever — it’s built using Unreal Engine 4 — and can bring it over to a new developer if they wanted to build on top of what was made. It’s unlikely that, after Fight Forever went well over budget and didn’t turn a profit, the company would look to have another game built from scratch. But that comes down to the kind of deal made with a new partner.
It’s important to clarify that these are currently in the discussions stage. No final decision has been made by AEW regarding a new partner or if there will even be a new game any time soon.
“There are feelers out to some of the larger developers in the space, including some obvious ones, to see what the interest in wrestling games are,” it was said. “They are doing their due diligence before any decision is made.”
What do you think the future holds for AEW video games? Join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming Forums.
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