Jeff Jarrett knows fans still have love for the old TNA Impact! video game, but the reason it never got a sequel had nothing to do with the game failing.
During a Dark Side of the Ring Q&A in New York, Jarrett was asked about the original TNA Impact! game after a fan brought up how underrated it was and why TNA never followed it up with TNA Impact! 2. Jarrett said Midway Games came to TNA because they genuinely loved the brand and wanted to understand what made it different from WWE.
Jarrett said Midway got deeply involved in the process, even visiting his house and working through the creative side with him while he was dealing with his wife’s illness. He flew to California several times during development, and one of the biggest ideas to come out of the project was Suicide.
That character was created for the game, but Jarrett immediately saw something bigger there. He wanted Suicide to jump from the console to actual TNA television, and Midway apparently didn’t see that coming.
“I’ll never forget the look on their faces and I said, ‘Hey man, I love this character. I want to make him into a real wrestler.’ And they were like, ‘What the—’ that blew their mind.”
Jarrett said he loved the entire video game process and felt Midway really bought into what TNA was trying to build. The problem came after the game, when Midway’s business issues got in the way.
“They really dug in. Uh, it got successful, and if you know anything about it, Midway—not because of us, we were a success—they overextended. They went bankrupt. And so TNA 2 was on the books for years, and then the Hogan years happened and it all went.”
So TNA Impact! 2 was not some idea nobody wanted. According to Jarrett, it was actually on the books for years, but Midway’s bankruptcy derailed the momentum before the sequel could happen.
The timing makes this even more interesting now because TNA President Carlos Silva previously confirmed that a new TNA video game is back on the company’s goals list. Silva said it was not a priority during his first six months, but after focusing on major wins like Slammiversary, TNA can now start looking at where a game could fit.
Now, with TNA openly talking about another video game, fans who grew up playing TNA Impact! may finally have a reason to hope the company gets another shot at the console market.
Would you like to see TNA make a new video game after all these years? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comments.
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