New Japan Pro Wrestling is getting a new video game. While there are currently little in terms of details, the official website announced that “NJPW video game announcement” will take place at 12:15 on January 3, 2018 during the Wresle Kingdom 2018 Fan Festa. It’s not clear that this will be a console game, but if it is, it could mark the first time that the WWE titles have a real competitor on console. The company’s biggest event of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 12, will take place the following day and will feature Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito, Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, and other matches.
This isn’t the first time that New Japan Pro Wrestling stars will have appeared in a video game, as they’ve been in some pretty major games recently. Several high-profile wrestlers, including current champion Kazuchika Okada, recently appeared in Yakuza 6, and older wrestlers made an appearance in Yakuza Kiwami 2. Besides SEGA, one other possible collaborator could be Bandai Namco as New Japan Pro Wrestling gear and costumes wound up being included in Tekken 7. The two sides haven’t been shy about promoting each other, and have even produced crossover clothing. For example, here’s Tekken 7 director and producer Katsuhiro Harada wearing a Bullet Club t-shirt in a recent interview:
Of course, all of the current New Japan Pro Wrestling video game crossovers could very well could have absolutely nothing to do with the upcoming video game announcement. It might not even be for consoles, and just be a mobile title. We’ll find out soon enough as the Wrestle Kingdom Fan Festa 2018 takes place on January 3, 2018.
