AEW announced a new division of the company known as AEW Games. Kenny Omega led the presentation, with help from Aubrey Edwards, Britt Baker, and Cody Rhodes, and he helped introduce not one but three new videogames coming from AEW Games between the end of 2020 and the end of 2021.
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There will be an AEW Casino: Double or Nothing game coming later this year with AEW superstars involved. There will be a mobile game called AEW Elite General Manager that will let gamers be the bookers of their own wrestling promotion. Finally, the big news was the AEW console game, coming later in 2021 for current and next-generation systems.
10 Excited: A New Alternative
WWE has been the sole company making professional wrestling video games for the console for many years. There have been a few smaller titles, and years ago, there was an Impact Wrestling title, but mostly if fans want to play a wrestling game, they have to play something WWE-related. With the overall negative reviews after the last regular WWE 2K game was released (43 on Metacritic), it is time for an alternative. WWE tried that with its arcade-style game released this year in 2k Battlegrounds, but AEW has a chance to bring new competition to WWE for gamers' eyes.
9 Worried: YUKE'S Involvement
The addition of YUKE'S is a good news-bad news scenario. The good news is that AEW has a partner in making the game with a lot of experience in video game design. The company released every single WWE 2K game from the start until 2019. There were some solid to good games created in that timeframe, so the company knows how to put together a good video game. However, the later years of WWE 2K fell to critical lows, and YUKE'S has a lot to prove if it wants fans to accept their designs on the AEW videogame.
8 Excited: The Video Game Graphics On Display
When AEW introduced the AEW videogame for consoles, the company had some footage it released of game action, including part of a match between Kenny Omega and Chris Jericho and a look at Hikaru Shida in a match with Omega. The background by the audience looked like a smoky arena, and the animation looked fun and accurate. If this footage is an early design, and the visual look is second to only the gameplay mechanics, this is already a promising addition to the wrestling videogame genre.
7 Worried: Supply & Demand
The idea of AEW creating a videogame is great news for fans of the company. However, the truth is that an average of one million people a week watch AEW Dynamite. While WWE only gets about two million viewers a week for each show, there have been millions more who have been fans in the past.
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AEW is selling its videogame to its fans, since outside of guys like Chris Jericho and maybe Cody Rhodes and Jon Moxley, mainstream-lapsed wrestling fans who play videogames know few of the stars. Is there a demand for this game for console gamers, and will it sell enough this early in AEW's existence to make it something that could garner a sequel?
6 Excited: Kenny Omega
Kenny Omega is AEW's version of Xavier Woods in WWE. The two guys are avid gamers and might love videogames even more than professional wrestling at times. Omega knows games, and as a gamer, he knows what fans of videogames like and hate. He isn't a businessman making decisions based on market research. He is the market, so he knows what they need to put in the game to make fans fall in love with it. He mentioned NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, and WWF No Mercy. If Omega is hands-on, he knows what the AEW game needs to be to make it a major success.
5 Worried: Lack Of A Roster
AEW has some of the best wrestlers going today in professional wrestling. However, they only have a roster that includes 63 male wrestlers and 23 females. That isn't a bad number of wrestlers, but many are not guys that fans want to play in a game (Peter Avalon?). What WWE has in its games is an extensive current roster plus legends like Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, and more. AEW could have guys like Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson, but outside of a very deep Create A Wrestler mode, there isn't much here.
4 Excited: The General Manager Mobile Game
Three games are coming from AEW Games, and one of the most popular might be the AEW Elite General Manager game for mobile devices. This isn't a big wrestling game where you fight in matches. This is a game where you hire talent, book shows, and then watch the action take place. It is a wrestling sim game.
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There have been some great wrestling sim games over the years online, and this could be a massively popular time-killer for wrestling fans who play a lot on mobile devices. AEW could partner with some indie promotions to deliver an amazingly deep roster for fans to choose from when creating their promotion.
3 Worried: The Double Or Nothing Mobile Game
The least interesting addition to AEW Games is the AEW Casino: Double or Nothing game. This is nothing but a basic casino game, with poker, craps, blackjack, and more for people to play on their mobile devices. There is an audience for this type of mobile game, but this is not what wrestling fans really wanted to see from this announcement. Honestly, if this were WWE, fans would accuse them of offering a cash grab for mobile gamers.
2 Excited: Hideyuki 'Geta' Iwashita
The most exciting news in the AEW Games presentation came at the end. Kenny Omega saved the best for last and revealed that none other than Jideyuki "Geta" Iwashita would be working on the AEW videogame. For those unfamiliar with the name, Geta is the man who directed WWF No Mercy in 2000. That game scored an 89 on Metacritic with reviewers and an 8.5 with fans. This was a wrestling game that ranked as the fifth Best Nintendo 64 Game of 2000 by Metacritic and the man responsible is now making one for AEW.
1 Worried: Over-Anticipation For The Games
The biggest concern for any gamer who is also a fan of AEW is that the anticipation for this new videogame will grow and grow over the next year. The game won't be out until later in 2021, so there is a lot of time for fans to get excited. If WWE releases its next 2K game before that, there will be serious competition in the marketplace. If the AEW videogame is less than spectacular, it might hurt any chance it has for success. The good news is that solid people are working on it, so hopefully, the final product meets the anticipation.
