Here's What's Happening With That AEW Fight Forever Trademark Dispute With GCW

AEW Fight Forever will be All Elite Wrestling's first console video game installment. While the game was initially targeted for a 2022 release, a number of delays in its development (including issues with getting a "T for Teen" rating from the ESRB) delayed it to some time in 2023. But the game was suddenly back in the headlines this weekend when it was reported that Game Changer Wrestling had filed paperwork with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) to oppose the "Fight Forever" trademark. The two companies are now reportedly in settlement discussions.

So will this affect the release of the game? The official answer from GCW is no. AEW initially filed for the "Fight Forever" trademark in March 2022, while GCW did the same in July 2022. The promotion held a 24-hour charity event titled Fight Forever back in January 2021. According to an official statement delivered to Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, GCW merely wants to make sure it can use the name for future charity events and isn't trying to disrupt the game's release or get money out of AEW.

GCW is not looking to delay the release of the AEW video game, or get money from AEW, per GCW. They're looking to make sure they can still use the name in use for future charity shows

— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) March 11, 2023

"As co-producers of the charity event in January 2021, I know both sides were negotiating in good faith to make sure everyone could continue to use the mark without impediment. Didn't get sorted in time and the lawyers filed (an) extension," the statement read.

AEW Fight Forever Post-Launch Details

Evil Uno recently confirmed in an interview that the game's title is not just a reference to the popular fan chant, but rather an indication that developers have plenty of post-launch plans mapped out.

"What I can give you; I can give you the tidbits that I was allowed to announce," Uno said back in December. "There will be over fifty characters at launch. The plan is for it to evolve over time. So we have a huge roster. Of course, it hasn't been said, but I'm sure we want to release more of that roster in due time. There will be more game modes than originally is at release. It's called AEW Fight Forever for several reasons. One being that this is likely going to be a forever game that evolves over time."

"They'll have (WWE 2K) years where GM Mode's there. Some years it's not. So, yeah. I'm always of the mind that if a game can evolve over time, like--okay, I'm going to drop some gaming stuff here. Deep Rock Galactic, No Man's Sky, games that initially were good, but now two years later are fantastic because they have so much crazy content," he added.