AEW may have taken a massive financial hit on Fight Forever, but another console game wouldn’t necessarily come with the same kind of price tag.
Mike Straw of Insider Gaming recently revealed that sources told him AEW lost at least $30 million on Fight Forever after development dragged on longer than expected and the game failed to reach its original sales goals.
Fight Forever was initially expected to arrive in 2022 before several delays pushed the release to June 2023. The extended development time drove costs higher, while the finished game ultimately sold around half of what AEW had initially expected. That combination left AEW with a major financial loss and raised plenty of questions about whether Tony Khan would ever be willing to fund another full-scale wrestling game.
There is now one important factor that could make the next attempt significantly cheaper. AEW still owns the engine created for Fight Forever. Because that technology is already in place, the company would not have to build another wrestling game entirely from scratch if it decides to move forward with a new project. That means another AEW video game could be produced for a significantly lower cost than Fight Forever.
AEW also no longer has an agreement with Yuke’s, the developer behind Fight Forever. However, owning the game engine gives the company the ability to potentially take that technology to another developer instead of paying to create an entirely new foundation.
Straw previously said AEW remains interested in revisiting video games at some point, although there does not appear to be another console project locked in right now. He also addressed claims that AEW had been discussing licensing its wrestling game rights to a third party, but his sources had no knowledge of those talks.
Fight Forever may have lost AEW tens of millions of dollars, but the company already paid for one of the most expensive pieces needed to make another game. If Tony Khan decides to give console gaming another shot, ownership of the Fight Forever engine could make the next project significantly less expensive from the beginning.
Would you like to see AEW make another console game using the Fight Forever engine, or should the company leave Fight Forever behind? Let us know what you think in the comments.
