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Last week, 2K made it clear that they had cancelled WWE 2K21. This made a lot of sense, especially when you look at the still smoldering ashes that was WWE 2K20. At the same time that they announced there wouldn't be a WWE 2K21, 2K also said that they would talk more about what they did have in store to take its place on April 27th.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds is an arcade-style wrestling game that is currently being developed by Saber Interactive. Saber Interactive has worked with 2K before on an arcade-style take on a sport with NBA 2K Playgrounds. Of course, Saber is also well known for their excellent ports of The Witcher 3 for the Switch and are also working on the upcoming Crysis Remastered.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds features the arcade-style fighting, as mentioned. It also includes "over-the-top Superstar designs, environments, and moves." The focus for WWE 2K Battlegrounds is said to be on "social pick-up-and-play fun." It will still reportedly include "plenty of depth" for those that really get into it. It actually looks a lot like what a spiritual successor to WWE All Stars would be, which has some fans excited.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds probably isn't the game that most hardcore sim fans are eager to play. That is understandable. However, it sounds like 2K is taking the proper steps when it comes to the sim-focused WWE 2K titles.
The studio said today that they are not planning on releasing a new sim-focused wrestling game this year.
All of that being said, we hear you and we know you want more from the franchise, so here’s what we’re going to do: we are applying what we’ve learned to the next WWE 2K simulation game with a renewed focus on quality and fun. As part of that commitment, we are extending the production timeline and will not be releasing a WWE 2K simulation game in 2020 (T2 fiscal year 2021). 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.
2K continues on to say that they have brought on Patrick Gilmore to be the new executive producer and lead for the WWE 2K games from Visual Concepts. Gilmore brings over 25 years of experience to the team with credits that stretch back to Disney's Aladdin for the Sega Genesis. He has also worked on Killer Instinct, Medal of Honor, and Amazon's upcoming MMO New World.
2K also noted that since WWE 2K20's launch, they have released a total of five title updates for the game that addressed "hundreds of reported concerns." I assume this was stated in an effort to maybe pull in some players that were only aware of the disastrous launch who may not know that the game is slightly less terrible now. Even if you aren't swayed by these multiple-hundred fixes, 2K says that they will keep the WWE 2K19 servers online "for the time being."
The company also says that if nothing else, their mobile game, WWE SuperCard, is still doing really well. That game has entered into its sixth season of updates and content. It has also been downloaded and installed more than 20 million times.
Details on both WWE 2K Battlegrounds and WWE 2K21 are very sparse at present. From what we can gather, we'll get more information on WWE 2K Battlegrounds in the months ahead. It is assumed that Battlegrounds will be released before the end of 2020.
