WWE 2K21 Canceled: WWE Confirms No New Game for 2020, 2K Has Update Coming
There were WWE 2K21 canceled rumors weeks ago based upon someone with inside sources claiming the game wasn’t coming out in 2020. Now, it’s officially been confirmed that a new WWE 2K game will not make its way to gamers in 2020. This could be good news, though, and based on another update from 2K, it looks like there’s something on the way still.
WWE 2K21 canceled, 2K spokesperson confirms
According to Comicbook, a recent conference call officially laid all the WWE 2K21 canceled rumors to rest. WWE interim CFO Frank Riddick said at the end of the conference call, “There is not going to be a launch of a game this year.” As Comicbook mentions, it will make for the first time since 1997 there hasn’t been a WWE video game launched.
However, not long after that conference call, 2K and WWE 2K20 tweeted out they’ll be “sharing details on the future of WWE 2K franchise.” The tweet (below) also mentions they’ll reveal “exciting news on Monday at 7:00 a.m. PT.”
It’s unknown if that tweet is referencing “exciting news” regarding WWE 2K, or another game in the 2K library. Even so, the news there will be no WWE game makes sense, as it would require travel to do motion capture. The fact that WWE’s recent events have taken place with no fans, would also make for an odd dynamic to try to create a new game.
We first reported the WWE 2K21 rumors several weeks ago based on something mentioned in a YouTube video from Justin Leeper. He worked on three different installments in the Raw vs. SmackDown video game series. In his video, Leeper spoke of having some inside knowledge that there would not be a WWE 2K game.
Fans hoping for a better WWE game
The news isn’t all that surprising given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic suspending a lot of production on media. However, there’s also the fact that a lot of people criticized WWE 2K20 for many issues and flaws.
In terms of the critics, the game has a 45 out of 100 for Xbox One and a 43 out of 100 for PS4 at Metacritic. However, fans who left reviews on the site have given an extremely telling 1.1 (out of 10) for Xbox One and a 1.5 for the PS4 game.
WWE 2K20 was the first of the series since 2000 with Yuke’s not developing the game. Instead, Visual Concepts, who had co-developed WWE 2K with Yuke’s since 2015, was responsible for the game. That situation led to what many people felt was an unpolished and unfinished game that just wasn’t up to par.
Despite a number of patch updates and the release of WWE 2K Originals content over the past several months, many gamers never quite warmed up to 2K20. Most were demanding money back, leaving angry comments on social media, and asking for someone else to take over the game besides Visual Concepts.
There are also a lot of fans asking for the return of the SmackDown vs. Raw franchise. We haven’t seen a title in that series since 2011, when the game was developed by Yuke’s and published by THQ.
It should be interesting to see if they’ll switch developers, add another team, hand over rights, or just take a bit longer to bring out a new WWE 2K title.
Visit our WWE news page for more of the latest game updates.