Recently, 2K Games published an open letter to fans concerning the fate of the WWE 2K series along with some new changes.
The changes come behind a negative response from the most recent title in the series, WWE 2K20. The game was the first in the series completely developed by Visual Concepts after long-time franchise developer Yukes left the project.
2K and WWE also announced that a new WWE 2K game would not be released in 2020. Instead, WWE is releasing WWE 2K Battlegrounds with Saber Interactive, which develops various action and sports titles, including NBA 2K.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds has more cartoonish versions of popular wrestlers from different eras. A trailer revealed that wrestlers would have to fight in rings that have multiple obstacles, such as alligators. The wrestlers themselves will also have supernatural powers.
WWE 2K20 seems to be losing steam after it’s launch at the end of 2019. The last Originals DLC, Empire of Tomorrow, was already launched in mid-March. The developer will likely continue to work on bug fixes and patches, but it’s unknown if more content is planned for the game when it really needs more fine-tuning. Meanwhile, for those who were disappointed by the last game, 2K announced that they would keep the WWE 2K19 servers for the time being, but it’s unknown when they will shut down.
2K and WWE have announced that Patrick Gilmore is joining as Executive Producer to lead the production of the series. Gilmore previously worked on franchises like Killer Instinct, Medal of Honor, and, most recently, Amazon’s New World project.
While WWE 2K20 was ultimately a disappointment to many fans, the card battle game WWE SuperCard continues to be a success. The game recently celebrated more than 20 million installs worldwide. The open letter states to “Expect to see more card tiers, game modes, in-game events and exciting announcements as WWE SuperCard content continues to roll out.”
2K Games has reaffirmed its commitment to expand the WWE library of games. They also announced, “We want to ensure the development team at Visual Concepts can create a great game that will entertain grizzled WWE 2K veterans, as well as newcomers who want to climb through the ropes and step into the ring for the very first time.”
WWE 2K Battlegrounds, the next game in the series, launches this Fall. Platforms the game will launch on are still pending.
