Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
It's been almost two full decades since wrestling video games peaked with WWF No Mercy. There hasn't been a game like it since. There also hasn't been a good wrestling game in many years. The upstarts at All Elite Wrestling are looking to bring fun back to wrestling games. On Tuesday, the folks at AEW announced their plans for their future video game lineup, headlined by a console wrestling video game project that will be led by former WWF No Mercy director Hideyuki "Geta" Iwashita.
"Let's create a dream wrestling game for AEW fans around the world and for all fans of the game," Geta said during the Tuesday livestream.
The upcoming game will be developed by the former WWE 2K development team at Yukes. Over the course of a Devolver Digital-style parody presentation, top AEW wrestlers Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, Dr. Britt Baker DMD, and referee Aubrey Edwards offered an idea of what's to come from the AEW lineup. The only footage of the unnamed AEW console wrestling game project so far is a brief in-engine display of Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, and Hikaru Shida delivering their signature moves, as well as showing off some crisp counters. More details on this game are expected in the future, but Omega and Rhodes both indicated that this project will not be rushed in an effort to release a more high-quality product.
While the AEW console game isn't coming anytime soon, there are a few other efforts with the All Elite Wrestling name to tide fans over in the meantime. AEW Elite General Manager is set to release by the end of the year on mobile devices, which will focus more on the simulation/management element of running AEW. While there's no timetable for that game, a second mobile game is expected to release sooner. This is called AEW Casino: Double or Nothing and takes a sideways step into a casino-style gambling simulator featuring the familiar faces of AEW. That's set to release before the end of 2020.
It's been a very long time since a good wrestling game has come out. Lord knows things haven't been great for WWE games lately. AEW does look to provide some hope, though, with the announcement that Geta will essentially be looking to re-create the old No Mercy magic. Whether he can do it remains to be seen and how soon he and his team can get it done is likewise unknown. There's a lot of work ahead, but as long as somebody can figure out a way to get future AEW superstar Max Caster's diss tracks into the game, it'll all be worth the wait. Keep it on Shacknews as we follow AEW's journey into video games.