Lost in Easter weekend was some major news regarding the WWE 2K franchise, as a former game developer for the franchise claims that there will not be a WWE 2K21 game this year.
No WWE 2K21 in 2020
Justin Leeper, who formerly was the narrative lead for the ‘Road to Wrestlemania’ mode in the Smackdown vs. Raw series, stated in a YouTube video this past weekend that the planned launch for WWE 2K21 has been cancelled. Leeper stated that he heard from “reliable sources” that the game has been nixed.
This news may not surprise some given that WWE 2K20 received quite a bit of backlash. Still, it is quite surprising given that a WWE game has been released annually since the days of WWF SmackDown!.
Leeper said in his video over the weekend that traditionally, WrestleMania weekend is when the announcement and promotion of WWE’s annual game begins. However, the weekend came and gone without any word of a new game, and Leeper stated that this was because there will be no WWE 2K game will be released this year.
What was going on behind the scenes?
Leeper said that in December, there was a 50/50 chance that WWE 2K21 would be nixed. This was weeks after we reported that Take-Two’s president said in November that he was “disappointed” with the feedback he received on WWE 2K20. In January, the development team was in “medium speed ahead” with the new game, but it was reportedly going to be the game very similar to WWE 2K20.
Now, the game has reportedly been nixed, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing a WWE game this year.
Plans for the Future
Leeper said that there will be a WWE game this year, but it will look a bit different than what we are accustomed to. The game will reportedly be a non-simulation game, and that the game will be published by 2K. However, Visual Concepts will reportedly not be the developer for this new title.
Lastly, Leeper stated that while WWE 2K21 has been cancelled, that doesn’t mean we won’t see the franchise return in the future. WWE 2K22 is reportedly in the works, but that game would not be available for the PS5 and Xbox Series X. WWE 2K22, however, will only be available for the PS4, Xbox One and PC.
For more WWE 2K21 news, be sure to keep checking out the SGO site.