WWE 2K Announces ‘Battlegrounds’ Series After Cancelling WWE 2K21

2K Games announced a new WWE 2K franchise, WWE 2K Battlegrounds, in an open letter to fans on its website.

Said 2K Games in the open letter:

“We’ve got two words for you: NEW GAME! We’re thrilled to introduce you to 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.”

WWE 2K Battlegrounds looks to be a less realistic, more over-the-top gaming experience that mirrors previous WWE gaming franchises such as WWE All Stars and WWE Immortals.

During its 1Q-20 earnings call, interim Chief Financial Officer Frank Riddick confirmed there would be no launch of WWE 2K21 in 2020. The comment sparked speculation of the future of WWE’s relationship with 2K sports, which had an apocalyptically bad, glitch-filled release of WWE 2K20.

Shortly after WWE’s earnings call, 2K Games teased a new project to be announced Monday at 7 am PST.

Much like the company-wide declines in key performance indicators for WWE, sales for WWE 2K have dropped precipitously over the past five years. Sales for WWE 2K dropped almost 40% from WWE 2K15 to WWE 2K19, with WWE 2K20’s sales plagued by an ill-fated release.

During a recent fiscal year 3Q-20 earnings call, Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick made the following comments admitting the games poor sales and plans to improve future offerings of WWE 2K games.

“While we’re disappointed that WWE 2K20 did not meet our expectations, both in terms of sales and quality, 2K is actively working with Visual Concepts to ensure that these issues are addressed in the future, and they’ll have more to share on their plans soon,” said Zelnick.

“The WWE brand continues to expand worldwide, and there remains a substantial long-term opportunity to grow our WWE 2K series by improving the quality of the game.”

With the Battlegrounds trailer leaning heavy on WWE legends from the past, it looks like 2K games will be stealing a page out of WWE’s playbook in an attempt to reinvigorate sales for a slumping franchise.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds is set for a Fall 2020 release.