All Elite Wrestling is getting ready to celebrate its 5thanniversary on television. The beloved wrestling promotion started life in early 2019 with the announcement of its brand and then started PPVs via Double or Nothing in May 2019. It wasn’t until October 2019, though, that they got onto TNT with AEW Dynamite. In those five years, AEW had done numerous things to shake up the industry for the better while also trying to build up its brand. One of those ways was by doing various video games on mobile devices and on consoles. The biggest of the bunch was its first attempt at a true wrestling game via AEW Fight Forever.
With some of its wrestlers and staff helping the team at Yukes create the game, the intent was to deliver an experience that would go less on “realism” and instead focus on creating fun gameplay like numerous wrestling games in the past had done. However, upon release, the title had mixed reviews, and due to its long development, sales didn’t make up for the costs that were spent. Insider Gaming has heard from its sources that All Elite Wrestling might go for a new partner should it try again:
“They [AEW] knows that things didn’t go the way they expected. 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.”
To its credit, even with the flawed launch, AEW kept bringing in new wrestlers and even added modes like Stadium Stampede to the mix to add to the fun and wonder. However, due to the long process of getting it made and the changes within the industry itself, some of the roster’s “key members” aren’t even on the AEW brand anymore, like Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill, and Andrade El Idolo.
To be fair, not everyone in AEW feels a shift is needed, but they said the option is “on the table” looking forward:
“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.”
AEW is still rolling despite the video game setback, and its competitor in WWE knows all about having “issues with game development,” so it’s arguably better that it’s getting the “bumps in now” versus later. Plus, with the rumored new contract deal for All Elite Wrestling that’s set to be announced, they could potentially hire a “more experienced developer” to make its next title.
