It’s no secret thatWWEfans weren’t happy aboutWWE 2K20. The game launched in a buggy and downright broken state, resulting in scathing reviews from critics and fans alike.WWE 2K20’s disastrous launch was so bad that 2K Sports decided to move away from the franchise’s annual release schedule to give developer Visual Concepts extra time to develop the next game in the series,WWE 2K22. But it seems that fans and critics weren’t the only ones unhappy aboutWWE 2K20. Evidently, WWE itself wasn’t impressed, and so it has reportedly had talks with EA about giving it the reigns toWWEvideo games.
This is according to a new report by Mike Straw of Fightful Select. According to Straw, the reception toWWE 2K22will be “make or break,” potentially ending the partnership between WWE and Take-Two if it’s not a hit. Straw’s report claims that WWE and EA have had on and off talks “for years,” but renewed after the significant backlash surroundingWWE 2K20and thedisappointingWWE 2K Battlegroundsthat launched in 2021. Apparently, “WWE has shown a lot of frustration” with how the latestWWE 2Kgames have been received, hence why it has started looking for a potential new partner in EA.
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If the WWE license does make the jump to EA, then it’s believed that EA Vancouver will be trusted with making the game, and that it would likely be years between the release ofWWE 2K22and the next game in the series. This might be disappointing news for fans since there was already an almost three-year gap betweenWWE 2K20andWWE 2K22, but the bright side is that EA Vancouver is generally considered to havedone a good job with itsUFCgames, so that would bode well for the quality of future WWE releases.
There haven’t been many reviews forWWE 2K22released just yet, but the game seems to be significantly better-received than its predecessor. Whether or not it will be enough toconvince WWE to keep the license with 2K Sportsremains to be seen, but it will definitely be interesting to see what happens.
The downside to 2K Sports losing the WWE video game license would be that the work done onWWE 2K22would essentially be wasted.WWE 2K22has a solid foundation that future installments could build on to make a more compelling experience. For example, there are some shortcomings withWWE 2K22’s MyGM modethat could be rectified in a potential sequel, but that will never happen if the license goes to EA.
Time will tell if the WWE license jumps ship from 2K Sports to EA, but if it does,EA Sportswill have an even tighter grip on the sports video games industry.
