AEW Fight Forever: Big Announcement Regarding Xbox Game Pass
AEW Fight Forever, All Elite Wrestling's first console video game installment, still doesn't have a confirmed release date. However, WrestleZone's Matt Black reported on Monday via sources that the game will be available on Day 1 of its release on Xbox Game Pass. Black explained how the deal will make the game immediately accessible to millions of potential players, writing, "By launching on Xbox Game Pass, AEW Fight Forever will be available to over 25 million subscribers on Microsoft's subscription service." He also pointed out this will be the first licensed wrestling game to be available on Game Pass.
The game was first announced back in November 2020, with confirmation that it would be developed by Yuke's (a previous developer on many WWE games over the past 20 years) and that WWF No Mercy director Hideyuji "Geta" Iwashita would be involved in the development. THQ Nordic signed on as the game's publisher and it will be released on PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Pre-orders began in August and a tentative release was set for late 2022, but there haven't been any updates on its status since its recent appearances at various gaming conventions. It took home the award for Best Sports Game at this year's Gamescom.
AEW Fight Forever vs. WWE 2K22
Kenny Omega, one of AEW's Executive Vice Presidents who has played a major role in the development of Fight Forever, spoke with the Wrestling Observer Newsletter earlier this year about how the game will compare to WWE's latest console installment, WWE 2K22 — "We'll never be to compete with the production value of WWE's game. You look at 2K22, it's absolutely gorgeous. So I'm excited to see all their bells and whistles when it finally releases. But for us, rather than pushing, pushing the envelope massively or anything like that, we just want the wrestling to feel like how it used to feel for the people who would play wrestling games back in the day. And just have fun with fellow wrestling fans, or, you know, people that just want to have fun with their buddies.
"Maybe they don't know who Luchasaurus is. Maybe they don't know who Chris Jericho is. But, you know, they'll be able to pick a character on the screen and go like, 'oh, this guy is fun to play as'. That's sort of the feeling that I want to, as sort of a creative designer, to bring that to video games," he added. "But, we want them to feel like the user is able to assume the role of their favorite AEW Superstar and/or whoever it is that they create in the create-a-wrestler mode and when they mix it in in the ring in whatever match type that they choose, that they're having a fun time and they feel like they're in control of their person and that the moves have impact. They feel everything, and that it's fun. But at the same time, if you want to be really competitive about it, you know there is that there too."
