It seems as though AEW’s long-awaited video game Fight Forever is going to keep fans waiting a while longer according to THQ Nordic’s Global Senior Community Manager.
The game has been subject to multiple delays ever since it was announced in November 2020. Originally slated for a September 2022 release, the game was pushed back to November, and then to February 2023.
However, despite a new trailer being released and pre-order purchases available the game has failed to materialise. Reasons for the setbacks have been linked to CM Punk’s involvement and according to Kenny Omega some of the game’s content had to be “scaled back,” in order to meet the desired ESRB rating of Teen.
To add further confusion around the game’s release Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently reported the game is “basically ready and it’s just now up to the business people to build to the release date.”
THQ Nordic’s Global Senior Community Manager Stated AEW Fight Forever “Is Not Ready”
Taking to social media THQ Nordic’s Global Senior Community Manager denied these claims before elaborating on the game’s status on his Twitch stream.
“For a publisher, the game is not ready it’s not finished until it’s released, basically. A lot of people are having a massive problem understanding that, which is kind of sad because it kind of creates this thing that everybody now suddenly believes, ‘Oh my god, these guys lied.’ No, they didn’t. So hopefully, it’ll get sorted out soon.
The game is in a good state. As soon as we do launch it, I think people will be happy. Then everybody will just forget about all the other stuff, and everybody will be happy and enjoy it.
That’s what I’ve been trying to explain to people. Development can already be sorted and stuff, but that doesn’t mean the game is done. There’s still QA. There’s still all these different things that they have to do. I just don’t see how people misunderstand it because — but that might be because I’m part of the industry. So for me, it’s common when people check in with me, ‘Hey, is this ready?’ I’m like, ‘Oh, no, it’s early in publishing stages.
“Again, I’m part of the industry,” he continued. “So, for me, that’s normal that I don’t expect everything to be instantly done. That is why it annoys me so much when we’re now taking our time. All three houses, Yuke’s, THQ Nordic, and AEW, we’re taking our time. We want to do this the best we can.
We make sure it goes through a long QA process and a long submission process. All these things and people are instantly like, ‘Oh, but we want the game now.’ Yeah, but you can’t have both. You can’t have a game that’s out right away and then have a good game. There’s only one of those things that actually matter that works and that matters.”
AEW Fight Forever is being promoted as an arcade-style game and not as a wrestling simulator. It will feature online play, cross-platform play, several different match types, and a full creation suite.
H/T Fightful