WWE 2K20, released in October 2019, is arguably one of the poorest-received WWE games, with over hundreds of concerns. With that in mind and after having received a ton of feedback from the gaming community, developers at 2K Sports have decided to skip the release of WWE 2K21 this year until 2021 in order to “ensure the development team at Visual Concepts can create a great game that will entertain grizzled WWE 2K veterans, as well as newcomers”. With that being said, they also announced that they’d be releasing a newly-styled WWE 2K Battlegrounds which features an arcade-style gameplay.
2K Sports mentioned that the WWE 2K Battlegrounds is being developed by Saber Interactive – the one’s who made a NBA 2K Playgrounds and the zombie-killing World War Z game last year. One thing is for sure, 2K Sports is taking a leap of faith on this one. Certain games like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, and Injustice, to name a few, have done well and pioneered this genre. After watching the teaser trailer, it looks like our most-loved wrestlers possess some superhuman abilities as well – which seems odd for a WWE game known among veterans for the fun caged brawls and more.
It’ll be interesting to see how WWE 2K Battlegrounds turns out. 2K Sports mentioned, “WWE 2K Battlegrounds, a completely new WWE gaming experience that will feature arcade-style action and over-the-top Superstar designs, environments and moves. We’re focusing on social pick-up-and-play fun, but with plenty of depth for those who want to get way into it”.
When it comes to the ‘main’ simulation game, WWE 2K21 seems to be in the right hands for its development has 2K Sports have hired gaming industry veteran Patrick Gilmore as a new Executive Producer who’d be leading the efforts with the development team at Visual Concepts.
It’s definitely good to see 2K Sports taking the initiative and addressing their setbacks after the release of WWE 2K20. As far as the fans of the WWE games are concerned – the arcade-style WWE 2K Battlegrounds will be up for grabs providing a fresh new experience. Some games survive the style-change while most don’t. Only time will tell how WWE 2K Battlegrounds will do, but here’s to hoping for the best.