The fans expressed dissatisfaction with the $7 price tag for accessing the new "Arcade" mode in AEW: Fight Forever

The new mode Beat the Elite in the game essentially represents an Arcade variation, where players battle 10 randomly chosen fighters one after another before encountering the final boss.

The final adversary will be a member of the AEW faction - The Elite: Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, or Adam 'Hangman' Page.

Despite some players welcoming the new content, others are upset that the new mode costs $6.99/ £5.79, instead of being offered as a free update.

"I've always supported the idea of such a mode in the game," stated Twitter user @standardeel, "but it's just too late, and they're asking for money for this, it's just insane."

"This should have been included in the original game," remarked user @B10Rell, while @Deuce_1982 added, "Bought it on release day. Hoped for improvements. There weren't any. Now they're asking to pay for this. No."

"It's just a series of individual matches," quipped user @BillSavage_, sarcastically remarking, "I can see why it took so long to create this mode." User @PigeonBagarreur noted, "Paying for this when you can do it for free in Mortal Kombat."

There are also numerous negative comments on YouTube. User Rnerdy197 commented, "I get paying for new fighters, but paying for new modes isn't how it's supposed to work; that should just be a new free update."

The game continues to struggle with player engagement: according to SteamDB, the PC version has seen more than 50 players concurrently only once in the last three months, despite the addition of a 30-player mode in August.