Rumor: 2K Sports and the WWE’s relationship has become “seriously strained”

WWE 2K Battlegrounds released on the Nintendo Switch in 2024, so it is no surprise that the upcoming release of WWE 2K22 could also come to Nintendo’s console. But, unfortunately, WWE 2K22 has been delayed to March of 2024. And, thanks to sources that spoke to Sports Gamers Online, we may now know why.

According to their sources, “2K Sports and WWE have been going back and forth on pushing back WWE 2K22 since almost immediately after the game was announced. Most of those within WWE wanted the game to release in it’s normal Survivor Series window. Those from 2K Sports and Visual Concepts, on the other hand, pushed hard for a delay of the launch”.

2K Sports and the WWE have been in constant disagreement about various parts of the game. There’s a problem with the roster being outdated due to 2K “working on scanning wrestlers and building new character models pretty much from the ground up” for wrestlers that were going, or have since been, released from the WWE. The poor performance of WWE 2K20 has also resulted in 2K Sports having a harder time working with the WWE. Although the latter saw a profit, they also saw losses due to the game’s poor launch and reception.

Although 2K Sports publishes WWE 2K games, Visual Concepts are the developer team that makes them now, ever since THQ closed down. Sadly, they have become pinched, underfunded and understaffed. The added pressure of working on this game hasn’t helped at all. And according to Sports Gamers Online’s sources, working there “just hasn’t been a fun place to be. Second guessing happens constantly because of a desperation to get things right”.

So, is there any hope for the “seriously strained” relationship between the two parties to improve in the near future? Sports Gamers Online’s sources said that “it wouldn’t take as much as people would assume. That’s how bad it’s been. But one great game and fan response could turn things right around”.

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