WWE 2K23 iis scheduled for release on March 17 and will build on the significant improvements the WWE 2K series has made with the WWE 2K22 payment last year. But the game won’t be the only pro wrestling release slated for this year for current-gen consoles and PC, as All Elite Wrestling’s first console game AEW Fight forever is scheduled for release later this year. That game is being developed by Yuke’s, the same company that worked on the series with Visual Concepts until its departure in 2018. WWE 2K20 back in 2019.

WWE 2K23 Creative Director Lynell Jinks spoke with WCCF technology recently on the release and how the series will have some competition this year. Jinks seemed to welcome the idea.

“We bounced back with 2K22, and if you look at the reception we got, that game was kind of wrestling in a nutshell, right? It’s the comeback story. Now we’re trying to keep our spot at the top and we’re competition is coming, and it’s even more important for us to keep thinking outside the box and improving every year,” Jinks said.

“I like competition,” he added. “I started with NBA 2K, I spent 10 years on it and at that point we went against NBA Inside Drive. Then we went against [NBA] ShootOut and NBA Live, and every year we looked at what they did and said, “that’s interesting” or “they did this better than us.” That only makes our games better. The same can be said about wrestling in general – having competition, for me it’s no coincidence that the storylines [in WWE] have been the best they have been in a long time. I think it’s because of that competition. It’s the same with video games. I look forward to seeing what they will do to make us even stronger.”

Kenny Omega, one of AEW’s executive vice presidents who helped with Fight forever‘s development, has openly stated in interviews that AEW’s game will not attempt to match WWE 2K in terms of visuals. Which game are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!