The first All Elite Wrestling (AEW) game, titled ‘Fight Forever,’ is nearing its long-awaited release. To get you up to speed, let’s go to ringside where you can hear about its features, licenses, platforms, and more.
After what seems like an eternity, AEW Fight Forever is set to drop in 2023 and represent yet another key area in which the relatively new upstart hopes to compete against the WWE goliath. While the likes of AEW: All In London represents the company’s real-life action, Fight Forever is an arcade-like wrestling sim that will let you control the wrestling promotion’s hottest stars.
There’s plenty for wrestling fans to be excited about in AEW Fight Forever. From match types, roster, and gameplay details, here’s everything we know about the game from WWE’s biggest rival.
Contents
The release date has officially been locked in for AEW Fight Forever as June 29, 2023.
It’s worth noting, however, that the premium Elite Edition comes with 24 hours of early access, meaning the most eager players can get their hands on the game from June 28.
AEW Fight Forever: Platforms
AEW Fight Forever is set to launch across the following platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, & Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
AEW has confirmed that crossplay is planned, with Omega stating “there will be cross-platform gameplay,” during an interview with Wrestling Observer Radio.
Reports in early November 2022 suggested that the game would be coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one of release. However, this has since been shot down by AEW in a statement saying:
“We don’t anticipate AEW: Fight Forever being part of any monthly gaming subscription services.”
AEW Fight Forever: Trailers
Check out the various trailers below:
Teaser Trailer
Darby Allin Reveal trailer
Jungle Boy Reveal
Kris Statlander Reveal
Nyla Rose Reveal
Moxley Spotlight
MJF Spotlight
Gamescom stream
Gameplay trailer
Release date trailer
AEW Fight Forever: Developers
Renowned Japanese studio Yuke’s is developing AEW Fight Forever. The company is best known for its work in the genre and has over 25 years of experience making wrestling games.
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Their prior work includes the WWE Smackdown titles on PlayStation, the popular Smackdown vs Raw series, and most of the more recent WWE 2K games.
Gameplay Details
Kenny Omega explained, that AEW is not going to try and “compete with the production values of WWE’s games.” Instead, AEW Fight Forever aims to revisit the classic wrestling game style. “We just want the wrestling to feel how it used to feel,” he said.
As confirmed through the Gamescom stream, we know for certain each wrestler will have their own entrance. Better yet, players can manually trigger pyro and special effects during these animations too. While it’s not the full walk to the ring as we’d see on TV, the brief opening does appear to include some official AEW themes like Adam Cole’s and Kenny Omega’s.
In moment-to-moment gameplay, players have access to all the familiar strikes, grappling moves, and counters you’d expect. Each wrestler also comes with their own set of finishers and signatures that require special inputs to execute. While not entirely confirmed, it appears we may be able to select our own powerful moves in the future and assign them to certain wrestlers.
As you damage your opponent with various moves, a momentum bar will fill on screen. With a full bar, you’re then able to trigger one of the aforementioned signature moves.
When it comes to game modes, not much is known at present. While a ‘Create a Wrestler’ mode has been discussed, and we know a range of minigames are set to be included, we’re yet to hear about game modes like General Manager, or a multiplayer ranking system.
A Story/Career Mode is reportedly in the works, however, according to Fightful Select. This storyline supposedly includes input from multiple wrestlers and could already have some unique music locked in, made by none other than AEW’s Mikey Rukus.
The likes of Orange Cassidy and John Silver reportedly did some voiceover work for the story mode, with MJF also writing a promo just for the game.
On top of this, we also know Fight Forever will come with a number of quirky minigames completely different to the in-ring style. From Simon Says (Penta Says)-style modes to a baseball game, there’s plenty to look forward to here.
We do know for certain the game will additionally come with an extensive online offering as well. While fans can expect the usual mix of game modes and playlists for online play, early intel spotted on the PlayStation Store also hinted at something much bigger. According to the game’s description on the PS Store, Fight Forever supports up to 30 players online at once.
This means we could see an epic battle royal mode or perhaps even rival leagues with players assuming control of their favorites over the course of a season. We’ll have to wait and see how it plays out but thus far, no wrestling game has managed to involve 30 players online all at the same time.
AEW Fight Forever: Match Types
Official match types to be featured in the AEW console game haven’t yet been confirmed through official channels, although Kenny Omega has said: “We have a lot of match types,” without going into any specifics.
Below are the confirmed match types we will see in AEW Fight Forever, along with various match types that leaked through the Amazon UK store listing:
- Singles match
- Intergender singles match
- Tag team
- Triple Threat
- Fatal Four Way
- Casino Battle Royale
- Falls Count Anywhere
- Unsanctioned Lights Out
- Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match
There’s currently no telling if we’ll see others joining the list closer to launch or even as DLC down the line. From a steel cage option to the iconic Mimosa Mayhem match type, there’s still plenty left on the table.
AEW Fight Forever: Roster
The AEW Fight Forever roster is already stacked full of top talent. Many of the promotion’s biggest stars like CM Punk, Jade Cargill, Jon Moxley, and plenty more, were all confirmed months out from launch.
Obviously, we imagine many more will be revealed in time. AEW has a roster of over 100 wrestlers, with the possibility of even more when we consider their ownership of Ring of Honor (ROH).
This could also see ROH wrestlers appearing in AEW Fight Forever, as several have already appeared on AEW’s TV shows. A handful of AEW roster members now hold ROH titles too, so this is likely to factor into content in the future, such as roster updates and DLC.
However, the developers have said that the game will include 50 wrestlers when it launches.
This means the game is only likely to include performers who appear on the main roster (AEW Dynamite and Rampage) at first, although more could be added in DLC expansions. In fact, we already know six wrestlers are indeed locked in to make their debut in Season 1.
While many new wrestlers are being announced to join AEW Fight Forever, some stars will not be making an appearance at launch. For instance, FTR will not be present when the game goes live. While the issue was under a lot of speculation, FTR said in an interview that their removal from the game “made a lot of sense” and it seems the departure was under good terms. Though as we now know, the current AEW tag champs will be joining the game very soon as part of Season 1.
While waiting for AEW Fight Forever to come out, why not take a look at some of the other upcoming titles?
