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Kenny Omega On Possible AEW Console Game Release Date, Working With Yukes

February 21, 2021 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
AEW Video Game, Kenny Omega Yuke's, AEW Games Image Credit: AEW Games

AEW is at work on the company’s first console game, and Kenny Omega talked about a potential release for the game, working with Yukes, and more. Omega spoke with talkSPORT discussing the game, and you can check out some highlights below:

On the progress made on the game thus far: “I’m really excited. We’re always in contact almost everyday with our teams at Yukes. I’m always in contact with Geta-san as well and I feel like we’ve got a really good chemistry and dynamic with one another.”

On their challenges with the game: “The biggest challenge we have right now is kind of representing the current wrestling style in a way that still make it feel like the games of old. Because things have changed, it’s not the same wrestling climate as it was in 2000. As you know, we’ve kind of crossed over into a new generation of wrestling and wrestling styles and certain types of wrestling never ages. I wrestle a certain way and the way that I wrestle may not be the way that Fenix or Jungle Boy wrestles, but how can we represent all of those styles in a way where it makes you feel as if you’re playing as those people, how do we make that mesh well in an actual wrestling game?

“We’re getting closer to that answer and I think with every little new addition to our engine, we feel it out, we see it and play it out. Then we tweak it, then we have other ideas how to tweak it and then tweak it again from there and then maybe we’ll come up with a brand new idea. Luckily we haven’t had any huge setbacks anytime we’ve come up with a new idea or something that we could perhaps implement. It’s sort of like ‘yeah, we can do that’ and try it out, it’s not ‘no, we’re reaching too hard’.”

On working with Yukes on the game: “The cool part is we’ve got a team at Yukes that’s prepared to challenge themselves and make something representative of the good SmackDown-y stuff that they can do and then Geta is there to add his flavour to it as to how he would have made a newer style game and we’re all sort of just bouncing back and forth. We were always working on all types of thing for the game, but the main core focus right now still is, let’s get the wrestling down. Let’s make sure we’re able to make it feel like this is wrestling in 2021, but it still feels like No Mercy, but it still can be fun for not only the wrestling fan, but the casual gamer who picks up a controller and drops his friend on his head.”

On when the game might release: “I wouldn’t say years [away] plural. I would say in a perfect world, give it about a year’s time. We’re working really hard and we’re lucky to have two teams, one in America and one in Japan, working on this almost around the clock. We do know that time is of the essence, we can’t let this sit around forever and people want a game like yesterday [laughs] so, we do want to release something as soon as we feel it’s ready and representative of what our brand should be and what will make fans happy.

“Again, we don’t want a Street Fighter 5 launch, we don’t want a Cyberpunk launch. So we’re going to create something that will fun to play from day one, but it will be ever-evolving as our roster is. As great as it is on launch, as our roster grows – let’s say we add a pay-per-view name, add a new arena, let’s say we sign whoever, anybody! – we want to be able to support those new additions as well. It’s gonna hopefully be what people are hoping for. Hopefully the new additions/update will be really prompt. That’s the plan anyway! So everyone can feel up to date with our roster and how AEW grows.”