The WWE Games franchise could be moving from longtime publisher 2K and developer Visual Concepts to EA. After deciding to skip a year given the highly negative response to WWE 2K20 by fans and critics alike, 2K has released WWE 2K22 this week in the hopes of salvaging its reputation. But the WWE has already begun talks with Electronic Arts to move the franchise over, providing them an out in case it needs one.
Why WWE 2K22 could see the license move from 2K to EA
If WWE 2K22 falls short of sales expectations, a deal could be made between WWE Games and Electronic Arts, according to a report by Fightful:
“Multiple sources have stated that WWE has had preliminary discussions with EA about bringing the WWE Games line over to one of the top gaming publishers in the world.”
Back in 2016, 2K Sports had signed a six-year contract to develop WWE games after the original license holder THQ filed for bankruptcy. While the first couple of WWE games in the 2K franchise were serviceable, the last few have received middling responses, with alleged budget cuts impacting the quality of each successive entry.
The friction between Yuke’s and 2K came to a boil before WWE 2K20’s production, and the result was Yuke’s leaving 2K not on mutual terms and becoming the developer for All Elite Wrestling. Visual Concepts was left holding the franchise together, but despite its best efforts with just a year in development, WWE 2K20 was lambasted. The annualization of the franchise was forced to come to an unceremonious end.
Though Electronic Arts do have some experience with classic wrestling titles like WCW Mayhem and WCW Backstage Assault, fans of the WWE games franchise are concerned about the company’s notorious microtransaction-heavy models.
In other news, a God of War TV series is reportedly in development and Halo Infinite’s co-op features have been delayed.
