There are a lot of ironies when it comes to the world of video games. One of the greatest ironies is when a video game is announced, and it seems like it’ll release soon, but it doesn’t. Sometimes it’s because of quality issues, which is understandable. Other times it’s because of behind-the-scenes stuff that can interfere with or derail a game’s progression. Then, there are the unforeseen circumstances that you almost have to scratch your head at because you wonder how things went that far. That last option was the case with AEW Fight Forever, the first video game of the beloved wrestling company.
They announced years ago, during their early days as a company, that they would rush into the video game space. To that end, they have already released two mobile titles successfully. However, their big title was AEW Fight Forever, the game that would let you wrestle as some of your favorite AEW superstars across the male and female rosters. The problem was that despite getting awards at gaming conventions, showing off characters in trailers, and more, the game didn’t have a release date. Many reports came out that the game had to be “massively scaled back” or that “internal issues” prevented the game’s release.
But now, we know the truth. It was because of the ESRB and AEW’s desire to get a “decent rating” for their game. AEW legend Kenny Omega was on the Swerve City Podcast, saying that the ESRB would give them an “M Rating” because of how much blood they could produce in the game. You apparently could make the wrestling ring appear like a bloody “murder scene,” which intrigued Omega but didn’t make the ESRB happy.
“I’m not too sure how much we had to scale it back, but man, I loved it. You could make the ring look like a murder scene if you wanted to. I hope there’s still some way to get a semblance of that, I hope we haven’t dumbed it down too much.”
He also acknowledged that the constant delays due to the ESRB hurt not only the release date but also the roster in the game. While most playable wrestlers are still in AEW, some aren’t. Omega noted that he feels that makes the game feel “outdated” in certain ways.
The ESRB did eventually give the game a T rating, which is what they were shooting for to bring in all audiences. However, no release date has been given as of yet.
