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[Bullet Club]

2K's Relationship With WWE Has Reportedly Become 'Seriously Strained'​

"It just hasn’t been a fun place to be"

It's been a busy couple of days for the wrestling world and WWE's 2K series in general, with a brand-new trailer and release date of March 2022 cropping up for WWE 2K22 over the weekend, which is later than usual for the series.

We've been hearing good things about how the game is shaping up, but even so, a new report coming from SportsGamersOnline has suggested that behind the scenes, 2K and WWE have been butting heads for a while.

Following the highly disappointing WWE 2K20, the wrestling company reportedly "made [2K] know they want a better product this time around", and was also said to have "made it known, almost annoyingly so, how much [WWE 2K22] means to the future of the franchise". As a result, according to one source, there's been a lot of second guessing on the development team "because of a desperation to get things right.”

"It just hasn’t been a fun place to be.
Second guessing happens constantly because of a desperation to get things right."

It was also suggested that back in early 2020, WWE made subtle threats to potentially sign with other publishers.

The latest bit of tension reportedly cropped up because of the release date, with WWE wanting to get the game out in its usual November slot, and 2K and Visual Concepts "pushing hard" for a delay. One of the reasons is said to have been because of the vast number of superstar releases in WWE recently, which has led to an outdated roster.

Assuming the comments are true, then, there seems to be a fair bit of tension between the two parties, although a source mentioned that "one great game and fan response could turn things right around.” A developer was quoted in the report as saying they're trying to "make the wrestling game fans want", so let's hope they can succeed!

"'We are fans and gamers like everyone out there,' one developer said. 'We are doing everything we possibly can to make the wrestling game fans want.'"

Do you think 2K will be able to turn things around with WWE 2K22?

Source: Pure Xbox

 

[Spaceman292]

Prolly coz all the games they make are shit

 

[Concern]

I just can't wait for glitch 2k22

 

[GreatnessRD]

Have no one but themselves to blame. And no, 2K and Fraudulent Concepts won't turn 2K22 around. I hope they do though, I really do, but I don't have the faith.

COME ON, YUKES!

 

[Marvel]

I just wanna see funny glitches tbh

 

[ksdixon]

Shouldn't have fucked over Yukes.

 

[Bullet Club]

I just wanna see funny glitches tbh

And you will get them. Lots of them on day 1.

 

[YoshiMadness]

The sad thing is, I had high hopes for 2K because 2K14 was actually a great freaking game. One of the best WWE games actually, and a wonderful debut, but it's been going downhill since then. Yukes was definitely a better dev for WWE.

 

[Drew1440]

The sad thing is, I had high hopes for 2K because 2K14 was actually a great freaking game. One of the best WWE games actually, and a wonderful debut, but it's been going downhill since then. Yukes was definitely a better dev for WWE.

I remember Yukes being slated for reusing the same code and physics engine that was last revised from the PS2 games. Last WWE game I played was 2K15 on the PC

 

[Gameplaylover]

The sad thing is, I had high hopes for 2K because 2K14 was actually a great freaking game. One of the best WWE games actually, and a wonderful debut, but it's been going downhill since then. Yukes was definitely a better dev for WWE.

Unfortunatley it's been going downhill with WWE too since many years.

 

[SegaSnatcher]

But they still haven't made a wrestling game that tops Here Comes the Pain or No Mercy still.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Bring back No Mercy. Update it. Thats all it needs

 

[steve_o_3000]

I’m pretty sure Yukes is making the AEW game right now, with the lead director from No Mercy being heavily involved.

I’ll rent 2K22. I’ve been burned too many times by them in the past.

 

[mcjmetroid]

I mean I'm no defender of WWE but they allowed them to skip a year..which I'm still shocked at.

It sounds like WWE are being more than accomodating here.

And obviously they want their game to be at least good.

Not sure how there is another side to this.

 

[Shut0wen]

When it comes to sports titles 2k dont give a flying fuck, but atleast wwe fans judged the games with there wallets unlike other sports fans who will just buy the same game over and over again, feel bad for the developer as its 2k and wwe who are the reason why its been like this for numerous years now

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Prolly coz all the games they make are shit

Thats 2k sports in general. Only thing left that is still good is NBA.

NFL2k great --> Got EA'ed with the deal --> All Star2k8 shit --> dead
NHL2k shit --> NHL2k5-2k7 great --> NHL2k10/Wii hockey shit --> dead
Baseball games shit forever --> dead
Top Spin games --> great --> dead
That boxing game --> shit --> dead
PGA2k (originally made by some indie studio) --> decent scores --> still going
WWE2k --> since rebranded 2K14 --> shit (before that the games got better scores under Smackdown or '12 '13 names) --> took a year off --> still going

 

[Little Chicken]

2k are a garbage publisher so I'm not surprised.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Man, I believe it. As someone that doesn't keep up with wrestling, (and hasn't in about 25ish years), I'd still gladly play the games if they looked solid. We've had some awesome wrestling games in the past!

Unfortunately the games we've seen over the past few years all look.... awful. The "big" ones, the spin offs, everything. They just look and feel like blatant cash ins, much like the EA Sports line.

I hope that someone is able to come around and make some really solid AAA or AAA-like wrestling games. But man, who knows when that will ever be.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Meh, give the game back to AKI Corporation, then I'll be interested. Haven't played wrestling games I've like more since the N64-era. I've tried a few over the years thinking maybe they've become better, but they just aren't.

 

[Bullet Club]

Come back Yukes! All is forgiven!

And bring eRr Ver Der with you.

 

[HTK]

I haven't played a wrestling game since I was in high school but I remember Here Comes the Pain, I had a blast playing that game.

 

[StormCell]

I don't feel like it should be terribly hard to make a good wrestling game. There was already a fun formula for it. When I sit down to play most newer games, it feels like they have adopted a realistic look with the physics and stuff and then tried to tie some controls into it while making sure to mesh player inputs with a realistic-looking set of animations. All I know is that most of these sports games feel like I'm just mashing buttons to trigger animations rather than actually playing the damn thing.

 

[hussar16]

wwe have ben content with releasing a subpar game then they tied 2k hands by letting go of yukes and releasing 2k20 in its awful state, and now they r trying to release 22 sooner then 2k wants, im glad they delayed it but im hoping 11 will be the good game 2k wants it to be

 

[stn]

2K is a garbage company when it comes to sports titles. No surprise there.

 

[Optimus Lime]

They have been making shit WWE games for around a decade. Which bums me out, because I'd kill for another great one.

 

[withincells]

Meh, give the game back to AKI Corporation, then I'll be interested. Haven't played wrestling games I've like more since the N64-era. I've tried a few over the years thinking maybe they've become better, but they just aren't.

AKI is Syn Sophia and the games they make now are pretty damn far removed from wrestling. It’s not the same team.

 

[eastcoastkody]

They have been making shit WWE games for around a decade. Which bums me out, because I'd kill for another great one.

technically they've never fully made any game. 2k20 was their first game on their own. And even then its still largely using the base game that Yukes/THQ made. 2k15 was their first game with any input. Before that it was Yukes making the game and THQ helping out.

 

[CamHostage]

wwe have ben content with releasing a subpar game then they tied 2k hands by letting go of yukes and releasing 2k20 in its awful state, and now they r trying to release 22 sooner then 2k wants, im glad they delayed it but im hoping 11 will be the good game 2k wants it to be

Visual Concepts is an accomplished team, I wish them well, but yeah, it's an impossible task to get these games done on two other company's timetables on a yearly basis. The gap-year was a gift, but I'm not surprised that they feel they've needed even more time to made it right.

I knew somebody a long time ago that worked on WWE spin-off products, and granted that was back with THQ (or maybe even Acclaim?) and so different but probably even worse parent company, but they never wanted anything to do with WWE once their work was done. There's reasons why there's seemingly easy bank in making anything tied to WWE, yet only the mainline brand ever ends up with a sequel and so many things come out rushed (we'll see if Saber actually gets together a decent WWE Battlegrounds sequel?)

The wrestlers themselves are almost universally a delight to work with, that's one of the few plusses of getting that contract.