AEW Reportedly Lost $30 Million on Fight Forever, Here's Why
- Sagar Mankar
- 8 hours ago
- 2 min read
AEW reportedly lost at least $30 million on its 2023 wrestling game Fight Forever.
Fight Forever launched back in June 2023 with a lot of goodwill behind it. It was AEW's first real shot at a console wrestling game, built by Yuke's, the studio known for classic games like WWF No Mercy, and published alongside THQ Nordic.
The pitch was simple. Bring back that old school arcade wrestling feel that a lot of fans grew up on. Three years later though, there's still no sequel in sight, and a new report might explain exactly why.
What Went Wrong?
According to Insider Gaming executive editor Mike Straw, sources told him development delays were the biggest reason behind the financial hit. The game was originally supposed to come out in 2022. Instead, it didn't launch until AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in the summer of 2023.
Extended development time significantly raised costs. Sales also underperformed, reaching roughly half of internal expectations.
One source told him, "We sold about half of what we were expecting, leading to a big reason why we lost so much."
Is A Sequel Still Possible?
According to Straw, AEW no longer has a working agreement with Yuke's, though the company still owns the game's engine outright. That technically leaves the door open for a new developer to pick things up down the road, but nothing appears to be moving right now.
Tony Khan has talked before about wanting AEW to stay in the video game space long term. Still, nearly three years after Fight Forever hit shelves, there's been no official word on a follow-up. Straw also shot down recent chatter about AEW quietly negotiating with a third party for a new licensing deal.
“They didn’t f**ing know anything about it.”
How Did Critics Receive The Game?
Reviews landed somewhere in the middle. On Metacritic, the PS5 version sat around 64, and other platforms weren't far off. Steam reviews tell a similar story, with the game holding a Mixed rating from more than 1,700 user reviews.
People who liked it really liked the arcade energy. The combat felt snappy, the weapon matches were a good time, and there was a clear nostalgic pull toward those N64 wrestling classics. The complaints were pretty consistent too. A smaller launch roster, a repetitive Road to Elite career mode, basic create-a-wrestler tools, and some rough hit detection all added up to a game that felt unfinished for a full-price release.
On the other hand, WWE, and WWF before it, built a much stronger track record. THQ's SmackDown series turned into a reliable multi-million seller once it launched in 2000, and titles like SmackDown vs Raw 2009 alone shipped more than 4.5 million units in a single year. Even after the license moved over to 2K, the yearly WWE 2K series kept performing well, rough patches like WWE 2K20 aside.
AEW simply didn't have those same advantages. A smaller, though genuinely passionate, fanbase and a more niche arcade approach meant there was far less room for error. Fight Forever's numbers make that difference pretty clear.
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