Tony Khan recently revealed he has spent eight figures of his own money on AEW's video game division, most of which will have gone on its upcoming debut console game.
AEW might still be less than three years old, but its early success makes it hard to imagine a wrestling landscape without it. Big names are joining the promotion's ranks, and wrestlers who were relatively unknown when AEW launched are now household names in wrestling circles. Tony Khan also continues to prove he isn't afraid to take risks to make sure AEW's success continues to grow.
Eight Figures Of His Own Money
One area where Khan is very keen to make a splash is wrestling video games. The company has already released two mobile games, but its first mainline console game will be the real acid test. Khan mentioned during a recent media call that he has spent eight figures of his own money, so at least $10 million, on AEW's video game division.
Although very little has been revealed about AEW's first major video game, it seems likely that the majority of that investment has been on the console game. Development must be going well as Khan added he is confident he will make that money back. Since WWE and 2K don't share specific development costs, it's unclear how much it costs to create a wrestling game, but eight figures feels like enough that the game has to be a success.
Aiming For Early 2022
AEW has shown off very little of the game so far. A trailer very early in development and some shots of what Darby Allin will look like in the game. However, the last we heard, Kenny Omega, who is close to the project, was hopeful AEW's first big game will be here by early 2022.
That potential launch window was made a lot more interesting over SummerSlam weekend when WWE 2K revealed WWE 2K22's has been delayed. The game won't be here until March 2022 which might well coincide with the arrival of AEW's first game. The Wednesday Night War might have ended, but six months from now we might have an all-new type of wrestling battle to watch pan out.