Wrestling video games have been popular since the early days of video gaming, but their popularity peaked in the late 90s to early 2000s due to the intense rivalry between World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). THQ emerged victorious in the wrestling video game market and secured licensing rights from both companies, releasing the successful WWE based game ‘WWF SmackDown!’. Despite a decline in demand for wrestling video games due to a lack of innovation in the genre, the recent announcement of a new ‘WWE 2K22’ gives hope for a possible renaissance in the future.
Introduction:
Video games have become an integral part of modern entertainment, providing an immersive experience for gamers worldwide. One particular genre of video games that have become wildly popular is wrestling. Wrestling video games have been around since the early days of video gaming, and their popularity has only continued to grow over the years.
In the late 90s to early 2000s, the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) were dominating the wrestling industry, and this lead to an increase in the popularity of wrestling video games based on these brands. However, with the fall of WCW, the market for wrestling video games witnessed a decline.
This article will explore the rise and fall of WWE and WCW games, detailing the longevity of the wrestling genre in the gaming industry, and the reasons why they succeeded or failed throughout the years.
The Rise of Wrestling Video Games:
Wrestling video games first made their mark on the industry in the 1980s, with games like Mat Mania and Tag Team Wrestling. However, it was not until the 90s that the wrestling video game genre took off, with the advent of more advanced gaming consoles.
In 1991, Natsume released the first game of the long-running series, ‘WCW World Championship Wrestling,’ which was received positively by fans of the genre.
The following year, the ‘WWF Super WrestleMania’ was launched, and it became an instant hit among wrestling fans. The game was launched for Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), Sega Genesis, and Sega CD gaming consoles, selling over a million copies worldwide.
Following the success of Super WrestleMania, several other successful wrestling titles were released by Acclaim Entertainment, including ‘WWF Royal Rumble’ and ‘WWF Raw.’
The Rise of WWE and WCW Games:
During the late 90s to early 2000s, the wrestling industry witnessed an intense rivalry between WWE and WCW. The rivalry began to spill over into the gaming industry, where the two companies fought for dominance in the wrestling video game market.
THQ emerged victorious from the battle, as it secured the official licensing rights from both companies. THQ released ‘WWF SmackDown!’, in 2000, which was the first wrestling game based on WWE to feature a fully-3D environment. The game was a massive success, selling more than 3 million copies worldwide.
In response, WCW introduced its version of the game, ‘WCW Mayhem’, which was released in the same year. The game received mixed reviews and failed to match the success of SmackDown. This was the beginning of the end for WCW in the video game industry.
As the rivalry between WWE and WCW continued to grow, WWE’s ‘SmackDown!’ series continued to dominate the wrestling video game market. Several other successful games followed, including ‘WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain,’ which is often cited as one of the best wrestling video games of all time.
The Fall of Wrestling Video Games:
In the mid-2000s, following the acquisition of WCW by WWE, the demand for wrestling video games began to decline. Fans had become bored with the same gameplay mechanics, and there was a lack of innovation in the genre.
Despite this, 2K Games took over the WWE license from THQ and released several titles, such as ‘WWE 2K14,’ ‘WWE 2K15,’ and ‘WWE 2K16.’ However, the quality of these games was highly criticized by fans, who termed them as repetitive and uninspired.
Conclusion:
The wrestling video game genre has come a long way since its inception in the 1980s. While both WWE and WCW games had their fair share of success, the decline in the demand for wrestling video games was inevitable, due to the lack of innovation in the genre.
However, with the recent announcement of a new ‘WWE 2K22,’ there is hope that the wrestling video game genre will experience a renaissance once again. It will be interesting to see if the developers can bring something new and exciting to the genre, or if it will continue to follow the same repetitive gameplay mechanics. Nevertheless, the legacy of wrestling video games will always be remembered as a vital part of the gaming industry.