Check it out before TK has a trademark change of heart
Yukes, THQ, and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) have “officially announced” the company’s first-ever foray into the video game world, AEW: Fight Forever. While the existence of the game was no secret, the teams put out today’s statement after multiple retailers — including Amazon UK and Xtralife — revealed several features, modes, roster members, and the cover art to the debutante wrestling title.
According to the retailer listings and the official statement, the digital ring-rocker will feature newly optimized tag mechanics, support for online Vs/co-op multiplayer, as well as a huge arsenal of over 40 weapons, daily in-game challenges, and much more. A selection of featured match types includes standard one-on-one, multi-wrestler, and tag-team showdowns, Ladder matches, Unsanctioned Lights Out brawls, Exploding Barb Wire Death Matches, and, an AEW trademark, the Casino Battle Royale.
A selection of new screenshots, (alongside what is hopefully placeholder artwork for the final release), features known roster members Kenny Omega, Nyla Rose, Kris Statlander, and Chris Jericho depicted alongside as-yet-unannounced AEW stars such as Dr. Britt Baker, Jon Moxley, Yuka Sakazaki, Darby Allin, Abadon, Thunder Rosa, and the current AEW TBS Champion, Jade Cargill. Referee Aubrey Edwards is also present, presiding over the in-ring action.
“One of the first things I did after signing with AEW was to ask [AEW promoter] Tony Khan to let me help assemble the best gaming team on the planet, to make the best wrestling game ever,” said Omega, EVP of AEW. “Well, we just landed the perfect finisher by partnering with global publishing and distribution powerhouse THQ Nordic for AEW: Fight Forever. The THQ brand has long been synonymous with wrestling games – there is simply no more qualified partner to bring AEW: Fight Forever to the millions of wrestling fans the world over.”
The road to release has been something of a rocky one for AEW: Fight Forever. Originally announced back in November 2020, the drip-feed of information and in-game footage has been relatively slow — with even these retail listings offering up far more information on the title than anything that has been officially released by the promotion itself. There have also been online whispers that Fight Forever is having a difficult development cycle, with stories of creative differences between the developers and wrestlers involved, as well as unconfirmed rumors that the project has already gone way over budget.
AEW: Fight Forever, deep in development at veteran wrestling game studio Yukes, is currently scheduled to release on PlayStation, PC, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch platforms. There is still no word of an official launch date outside of its tentative release window of 2022.
