It looks like the biggest talent AEW got from WWE wasn’t Brodie Lee, Miro, or FTR, as AEW Games has officially unveiled their console game and the developer is none other than Yuke's. The game is still in the early stages of development but their plan is to have this title play similarly to WWF No Mercy, which is often lauded as the best wrestling game ever made.
As if that wasn’t enough to get excited about, the brief gameplay trailer that was unveiled this morning (Manila time) confirmed intergender matches. The closest thing AEW has gotten to one was an intergender tag match where Kenny Omega and Riho beat Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford—on AEW Dark, of all shows—so this is a huge surprise, especially since the WWE games haven’t done them in so long.
The game is still early in development but I did like the cartoony graphics that were shown off. It's not overly exaggerated like WWE All Stars or 2K Battlegrounds, being more visually similar to the PS2 SmackDown vs. RAW series and TNA Impact!, which came out on 7th and 6th generation consoles. Those are meant to be compliments and if the counters shown in the video are really this smooth, I’ll be more than happy.
Having a veteran gaming company like Yuke's is also reassuring since they made some really fun wrestling games, whether they were the simpler SmackDown vs. RAW titles or the simulation-style WWE 2K games. They found a pretty good balance with WWE 2K19 but it looks like we won’t be getting that kind of game with AEW.
No release date for the AEW console game was announced, nor did they reveal which platforms it will be available for. Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, and Hikaru Shida are the only confirmed wrestlers thus far, though we’re sure more stars will be announced down the line. There was also a brief glimpse of a Meltzer Driver animation so The Young Bucks are in as if that was ever put into question.
I’m just glad the women are actually in this game since I half-expected them to do what the TNA game did and not have any playable female wrestlers. Can you blame me? Look how poorly-booked that women’s roster is.
While the console game was the biggest story to come from the AEW Games presentation, that wasn’t the only AEW video game revealed.
They showed off a trailer for a mobile game called AEW Elite General Manager, which is basically the WWE General Manager mode from previous games but as a standalone release with AEW wrestlers. Players have to manage the AEW roster, book Dynamite shows, and make sure that they get big ratings. Since this is a mobile game, it did show off more wrestlers like Jon Moxley, Mr. Brodie Lee, and Orange Cassidy but they’re probably a shoo-in for the console game as well.
Finally, a casino mobile game was announced called AEW Casino Double or Nothing. Yay, I guess? There are also AEW Games shirts because, lol, t-shirt company meme.
AEW Games didn’t announce a release date for their untitled console game, while AEW Elite General Manager will come to mobile devices sometime in 2021. AEW Casino Double or Nothing is apparently, available now on mobile devices.
Nico Parungo is a freelance contributor for Geeky PH and previously wrote for Epicstream. He provides weekly recaps of AEW Dynamite for Smark Henry and has contributed several reviews of PWR and MWF shows. When he isn't frustrated about the WWE, he's playing video games at home and is bugging his friends with glorious puns. He's new to the world of Twitter drama but is quickly getting hooked.
