WWE Wrestlefest (lost builds of cancelled console ports of iOS remake of 1991 arcade game; 2013)
WWE Wrestlefest was a remake of the 1991 arcade game, WWF Wrestlefest. It was released on February 21st, 2012 on iOS. However, it was originally planned to get ports to (at that time) current consoles of the Xbox 360 and PS3 as well as Android phones and PC via Steam.[1] These ports, however, never surfaced until July 10, 2023.
History
A remake of the 1991 arcade game, WWF Wrestlefest, WWE Wrestlefest was announced in February 2012 and released shortly thereafter for iOS.[2] The game had many classic wrestlers from the original game such as "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Jake "The Snake' Roberts as well as new and current wrestlers from the time such as John Cena and Randy Orton. Several DLC packs were released for the game with the last one being released in Summer 2012.[3]
The ports were quietly delayed by the way of the game's Steam page to 2013[4] however, it seems they were fairly far into development. Achievements for the game were discovered for the Xbox 360 port which are usually only added to games that are close to releasing.[5] Futhermore, a year after cancelation, leaked footage of the 360 version was revealed[6]
Cancellation
While the other ports were announced with the release of the iOS version, no new information was released through official channels about them. A Steam page for the game was established and was online until March 2013 meaning this is likely the time the game was cancelled.[7] The game was most likely canceled due to the bankruptcy of the company with the WWE video game license, THQ,[8] who were developing the game along with Seed Studios.[9] After the bankruptcy of THQ, 2K acquired the license to make WWE games and likely decided to cancel the ports.[10]
Gameplay
From the leaked footage and the information about it released through official channels, it seemed the ports of the game would have been mostly identical to the iOS version. However, it seemed that the console version would have also included the DLC from the mobile version as well as including unlockable content and multiplayer. From the achievement list, it can be seen that DLC was also planned to come to the ports of the game.
Avalibility
On July 10, 2023, Reddit user wwe2kbuff posted that they had found the Xbox 360 port of WrestleFest, as well as the cancelled iOS premium version and the Xbox Live Arcade version. They also confirmed that they haven't tested it yet.
See Also
- AJ Styles vs Kenny Omega (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2006)
- Alberto Del Rio vs CM Punk vs Dolph Ziggler vs Jack Swagger vs John Cena (partially found master tape footage of untelevised Hell in a Cell match; 2011)
- Awesome Kong vs Melissa Anderson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2009)
- Bill Longson vs Whipper Billy Watson (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1947)
- Blood Circus (partially found Santo Gold film; 1985)
- Braden Walker's "Knock Knock" promo (lost original pre-tapes of WWE backstage segment; 2008)
- Bradshaw vs Christian (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 2001)
- Bret Hart-Hulk Hogan photoshoot (lost professional wrestling promotional photos; 1993)
- Bret Hart vs Tom Magee (found untelevised professional wrestling match; 1986)
- Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling (lost early BBC televised professional wrestling matches; 1938-1939; 1946-1947)
- Celebrity Wrestling (partially found ITV professional wrestling reality show; 2005)
- Chowdaheads (partially found unaired professional wrestling cartoon show; 1999)
- Collision in Korea (found professional wrestling event in North Korea; 1995)
- Collision in Korea wrestler sketches (lost North Korean pencil sketch portraits of professional wrestlers; 1995)
- Cultaholic (found debut video of professional wrestling YouTube channel; 2017)
- ECW Anarchy Rulz (lost build of cancelled Nintendo 64 port of professional wrestling game; existence unconfirmed; 2000)
- ECW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
- ECW Hardcore TV final episodes (lost episodes of Professional Wrestling Show; 2001)
- FMW at E3 2000 (partially found footage of professional wrestling at gaming trade event; 2000)
- The Game (partially found Disturbed cover of professional wrestling theme song; mid 2000s)
- GFW Amped (partially found unaired professional wrestling show; 2015)
- The Giant's moonsault (lost footage of professional wrestling move; existence unconfirmed; 1990s)
- Girls Gone Wild: Live from Spring Break (found WWE/Girls Gone Wild crossover special; 2003)
- GLOW (lost unfinished final season of Netflix comedy-drama series; 2019-2020)
- Goldberg's pre-television debut matches (lost footage of professional wrestling dark matches; 1997)
- Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1908)
- Gotch-Hackenschmidt Match Film (lost world championship match; 1911)
- Jake "The Snake" Roberts DDTs Hulk Hogan (lost Snake Pit segment; 1986)
- Johnny Gargano vs Velveteen Dream (lost footage of alternate finish to professional wrestling match; 2019)
- Kurt Angle vs Owen Hart (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1999)
- The Last Battle of Atlanta (found untelevised professional wrestling steel cage match; 1983)
- Lita's training matches (partially found training videos of professional wrestler; late 1990s-2000)
- Low Ki & Mercury vs Ric Blade & TCK (partially lost footage of hardcore wrestling tag team match; 2000)
- Mark Jindrak in Evolution (partially found unaired vignettes of professional wrestling stable; 2003)
- Pat Tanaka vs Rocco Rock (lost footage of "Body Count" professional wrestling match; 1993)
- "Plane Ride From Hell" (lost photographs of drunk wrestler incidents; 2002)
- Radio WWF (lost professional wrestling radio show; 1993-1994; late 1990s-2000)
- Screwed: The Bret Hart Story (lost unfinished wrestling documentary film; 2005)
- Sex University (lost WWE webshow; 2006)
- Shin Nihon Pro Wrestling Gekitou Densetsu (lost build of unreleased Virtual Boy wrestling game; 1995)
- Strange Kentucky People (lost recording of Chris Jericho "tribute"; 1994)
- TNA Impact! 2 (lost build of unfinished professional wrestling game; 2009)
- WCW 2000 (lost work on unfinished PlayStation 2 game; 2000)
- WCW All Nighter (partially lost professional wrestling compilation show; 1994-1995)
- WCW Classics (partially found professional wrestling compilation show; 2000-2001)
- WCW Internet-only Special Events and PPVs (lost audio streams; 1997-1998)
- WCW/nWo Live (lost build of cancelled PlayStation professional wrestling game; 1998)
- WWE 24x7 (lost professional wrestling compilation show; 2007)
- WWE Brawl (lost build of cancelled fighting game based on professional wrestling; 2012)
- WWE Crush Hour (lost build of cancelled Xbox port of vehicular combat game; 2002)
- WWE SmackDown vs Raw Online (lost build of cancelled online professional wrestling PC game; 2010-2011)
- WWE Wrestlemania 36 (lost footage of alternate finishes to professional wrestling matches; 2020)
- WWF Attitude (lost professional wrestling recap show; 2001-2002)
- WWF Backlash (non-existent unfinished Nintendo 64 professional wrestling game; 2001)
- WWF Excess (partially found professional wrestling talk show; 2001-2002)
- WWF In Your House 8: Beware Of Dog (partially found untelevised professional wrestling matches; 1996)
- WWF Livewire (partially found professional wrestling recap and talk show; 1996-2001)
- WWF Shotgun (partially found July to December season of syndicated wrestling show; 1997)
- WWF Xperience (found pay-per-view event footage; 1996)
References
- ↑ Official WWE article talking about the game. Retrieved 05 Mar '22
- ↑ Article covering the games announcement. Retrieved 05 Mar '22
- ↑ Article covering the final DLC pack. Retrieved 05 Mar '22
- ↑ Archive of the game's Steam page. Retrieved 05 Mar '22
- ↑ Achievements from the cancelled game. Retrieved 05 Mar '22
- ↑ Leaked footage of the Xbox 360 version. Retrieved 05 Mar '22
- ↑ Reddit post mentioning the disappearance of the game's Steam page. Retrieved 05 Mar '22
- ↑ Article that talks about the bankruptcy of THQ. Retrieved 05 Mar '22
- ↑ Article that mentions the developers of the game. Retrieved 05 Mar '22
- ↑ Article that goes over the acquisition of the WWE games license. Retrieved 05 Mar '22
11. https://www.reddit.com/r/WWEGames/comments/14w0e4c/wwe_wrestlefest_xbox_360_port_found/