2K and Visual Concepts’s WWE franchise has needed to cope with layoffs before in terms of its yearly roster. But since 2K decided to break away from the annualization of the series after WWE 2K20 was panned by both fans and critics alike, the latest game has had to take two years for development – two difficult years during the Covid pandemic when the WWE had to layoff over 90 superstars in their roster. During that time, the developers for WWE 2K22 had to retool and overhaul the game’s controls, graphics, and modes, with a lot of pressure coming from a rumor that Electronic Arts could snatch the license away from 2K if WWE 2K22 flops.
How 2K and Visual Concepts managed WWE 2K22 roster during development
Lynell Jinks, creative director for Visual Concepts, and senior producer Christina Diem Pham expanded on what happens when they learn that a wrestler has been cut from the WWE in an interview with GameSpot. Jinks ensures that there’s plenty of communication between the developers and the WWE:
“Every year, we’ve had to deal with certain situations where a superstar would get released, right before we’re about to launch the game. And the WWE, they’re amazing partners, they’ll evaluate what [the wrestler’s] contracts are, when our release date is, how much of a pain point would it be for us to remove someone.
…It was the same thing this year. Yeah, this was at a different scale, but every superstar that either left the company or was future endeavored, there was a discussion about it, and we worked with the WWE to figure out what was the best thing for the game.”
While not an insignificant portion of the WWE 2K22 roster had to be cut, the good news is that Visual Concepts wouldn’t have to put in the time to create the models for them. Given that the problem with the WWE 2K franchise was never really the roster but the outdated design, this was likely a benefit to the game’s development.
In other news, Elden Ring sales has already claimed the top spot this month, and the US Justice Department is investigating Activision for insider trading.
