AEW’s video game will blend arcade speed with simulation mechanics according to Kenny Omega

Wrasslin’! For the last couple of years, WWE’s wrestling games have been just like the TV product: Godawful, lame, and in need of some fresh new blood. 2019’s WWE 2K20 will go down in history as one of the worst games of all time, thanks to outside interference from bugs, glitches, and a baffling decision to rewire the brains of fans by completely changing the control scheme.

So bad was the game, that it was given a year off and its slot was filled by WWE 2K Battlegrounds. It was OK, and its best feature was that it wasn’t WWE 2K20. So what’s going on in the land of the Elite then? All Elite Wrestling has been an absolute blast on television, and with Kenny Omega now menacing multiple wrestling promotions as a hunter of championships while Jon Moxley waits for his rematch, the show is hotter than ever.

A video game is on the way, and in a new episode of the AEW Games 2.Show, Omega and Kip Sabian addressed fan questions. One of the queries was over the style of the AEW game: Will it hew closer to arcade or simulation roots? “Neither,” said Omega. According to the AEW champion, games like Fire Pro Wrestling exist on the extreme end of the wrestling simulation spectrum, and while deep, their learning curve doesn’t allow for them to be pick up and play experiences.

Instead the focus is on creating a game that has the speed of an arcade wrestling experience and is enhanced by the moves and countering system of a simulation game. “Sometimes, when games are rushed, they encounter a lot of bugs,” Omega said. “They become almost unplayable, and then they become a meme in themselves. We don’t want that! We want people to have fun with this thing.”

Online competitive play and a create-a-wrestler mode is also planned, and footage of some of the game’s in development moves were also shown off. That Young Bucks Meltzer Driver tag team move looks painful. So far, I’m intrigued. With former WWE game developer Yukes toiling away behind the scene and WWF No Mercy’s Hideyuki “Geta” Iwashita also involved in the game, the wrasslin’ genre may finally have a main event player to look forward to in the near future.

Last Updated: January 8, 2021