Report: Reason For AEW Fight Forever Delay Revealed
AEW Fight Forever struggling to get a Teen rating from ESRB
Jan 25, 2023
While it was hoped that AEW Fight Forever would be released in 2022, All Elite Wrestling's first console video game has still yet to reach the shelves, with a release date still not officially announced for the title.
An update has emerged on why no release date has been announced from Matt Black of WrestleZone. According to Black, the delay has been due to AEW struggling to receive a Teen rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the organisation which assigns age and content ratings for video games in the United States and Canada.
AEW and THQ Nordic released a trailer for Fight Forever in November 2022, showcasing the game with a Teen rating, but that rating wasn't official when the trailer premiered. Instead, the ESRB has yet to rate Fight Forever and the amount of blood and gore in the video game has prevented it from achieving a Teen rating on multiple occasions.
Those close to Fight Forever are now confident about the game, though, and the title has been resubmitted to the ESRB. Everyone close to the title is reportedly "feeling pretty confident that the issues are resolved, but they won't know for sure until it officially comes back."
Furthermore, it was noted that internal expectations pegged Fight Forever for a September 2022 release, which was shifted to November 2022 and then February 2023. Black speculated a new possible release window could coincide with May's Double or Nothing pay-per-view.