AEW: Fight Foreveris an exciting game for fans of the Tony Khan-owned wrestling promotion. The company has been making significant strides in competing with other, more established wrestling brands like Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling, but it’s clear that the vision is to offer a different kind of experience to fans who are looking for something different to what is offered by the overbearing WWE machine. The admittedly small wrestling genre of games has beendominated byWWE 2Kin recent years, but this could change asAll Elite Wrestlingenters the fray.
Naturally, it may prove difficult forAEW: Fight Foreverto get its claws into a large swathe of gamers out of the gate, as it’s found a place in such a large shadow. Developer Yuke’s and publisher THQ Nordic may have to get creative with the way the game is released, as shoving it on store shelves alongside the latestWWE 2Koffering will surely highlight some of the former’s issues. Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus have given smaller studios the chance to deliver games to a wide audience, and it might very well be the best option forAEW: Fight Forever.
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Game Pass Could Boost AEW’s TV Ratings
Though the game is very important in and of itself,AEW: Fight Foreveris promotional material for the main AEW product. Putting its name out on a different medium to TV means there’s a whole different and new group of people who could be inclined to give the weeklyAEWshows a shot.AEW: Fight Foreverwill allow people to learn the company’s rosterof talent, understand their strengths and weaknesses, and find favorites to root for, all before even watching a single match. Often gamers don’t know what they want until they have it (as is evident with the likes ofRocket League,Undertale, andJourney), so are not likely to pay full price for a game that doesn’t have sufficient hype following it.
AEW Fight Forever Can’t Compete with WWE’s Quality
WWEgames have been around for decades, with numerous revisions designed to improve the experience, making it more in line with the TV product while also competing with fighting games of all varieties. It’s seen a change in developers to Visual Concepts, butWWE 2K22is a step forwardout of a period of tumult for the franchise, meaningAEW: Fight Foreverhas a significant mountain to climb if it is to forge a legacy all its own away from the WWE shadow.AEWfans may flock to the game because of the company it’s representing, but players only stick around if the gameplay is good. It surely can’t compete withWWE 2K’s production value, so having it test the waters on Game Pass or PlayStation Plus could give it the chance to see how fans react to it.
AEW: Fight Foreverusing theever-growing player base of Xbox Game Passand PlayStation Plus wouldn’t be a pioneering or even unique thought, but it would be a very smart move. Sales are surely not going to be as high asWWE 2Kor even other fighting games, meaning the decision to go to a place that already has an audience of gamers who are willing to give even the smallest games a try would give the game the best chance at success.
AEW: Fight Foreveris set to launch in 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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