Players have been waiting for news on when they can get their hands on AEW Fight Forever, but a new legal issue over trademarks between the promotion and independent promotion Game Changer Wrestling appears to be the latest potential hiccup. It comes as questions continue as to when players will be able to get their hands on AEW's first video game, with recent reports suggesting the game may release sometime in 2023. At the heart of this latest issue, though, is the game's very subtitle taken from the popular live audience chant and how closely both promotions' trademark filings fall to each other.
AEW Fight Forever was first announced in November 2020 with a trailer featuring marquee stars Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, and Hikaru Shida. With Yuke's serving as the game's developer, the game was described as a spiritual successor to popular arcade-style wrestling video games such as WWF No Mercy and Virtual Pro Wrestling. Since then, AEW has slowly rolled out more footage of the game to showcase how much the graphics and gameplay have improved from the original trailer, along with other members of the AEW roster available to play as at launch.
The trademark issue in question became public knowledge shortly after a March 1, 2023 filing by a lawyer representing GCW over the "Fight Forever" trademark noting the promotion's opposition to AEW's own trademark. It led to speculation on social media of a potential legal battle between the two promotions over the trademark, which, ultimately, was shot down by GCW owner Brett Lauderdale. Lauderdale told Fightful Select, via Cultaholic, both companies had been negotiating "in good faith" with AEW to reach a solution that benefits both companies. However, a solution wasn't reached in time, and GCW's lawyer filed an extension. Lauderdale added he is not interested in blocking the release of AEW's first game.
GCW's own use of 'Fight Forever' ties back to a 24-hour charity show of the same name the promotion ran in January 2021, with all the money raised going to talent booked on the show who hadn't been able to wrestle due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The promotion later filed a trademark on the phrase in July 2022, allowing the promotion to run future shows if it wished to. However, AEW filed its respective trademark earlier in March 2022, which clued players into what the game's title would end up being.
It remains to be seen what this could ultimately mean for AEW Fight Forever, despite Lauderdale's own statements about GCW not trying to block the game's release. AEW star Kenny Omega recently stated the game's release had already been held up due to issues securing a T rating from the ESRB, though these issues had been resolved. The circumstances around the trademark confusion could ultimately hold up the game further, even if talks between GCW and AEW have been amicable.
AEW Fight Forever is currently in development for Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Cultaholic