Tony Khan Defends AEW's $20 Million Video Game Investment

Tony Khan has responded to criticism of AEW's eight-figure investment in its video games division, saying that it'll soon be "an even bigger investment that's going to pay off huge."

Speaking with PWInsider's Mike Johnson, Khan said that the revenue won't show up in his promotion's books until next year:-

"In particular, it's crazy because like that's going to be an even bigger investment that's going to pay off huge that I've made this huge eight figure investment in video games because that we won't see any revenue from that until 2022. That's why it's not going to pay off in 2021 on our books."

Last week, a Forbes article on Khan and AEW revealed the eight-figure sum as what was keeping AEW in the red this year. Khan told Johnson that AEW has "put $20 million into Epic Games," but the investment is "worth a lot more than that now."

The AEW founder went on, outlining what he expects to be a year of significant growth in 2022:-

"In 2022, we're going to have a huge year, uh, when we start seeing the receipts of the games and we have a great TV contract. We'll continue to expand and grow as a live events and touring company, but also as a television and pay-per-view company. I expect we'll continue to see great growth. And with the launch of Rampage, things are really shaping up for a great 2022 as it will be the first full year of Rampage. So, it's going to be a huge year for us, but in 2021, I'm making an investment."

An official release date is yet to be confirmed for AEW's main console game, which is currently in development. A mobile game, AEW Casino: Double or Nothing, is currently available via Google Play and the Apple App Store, while AEW Elite GM is presently at the beta testing stage.