The WWE & 2K Games Partnership Has Been A Massive Disappointment

A new wrestling game popping up is a yearly occurrence and the same has persisted over the past two decades, aside from one unavoidable expectation the previous year. This trend started with WWF SmackDown back in 2000 and with the announcement of WWE 2K22, wrestling fans will be getting another installment on the newest consoles but hardly anyone is excited and justifiably so.

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How 2K Ruined a Good Franchise

WWE partnered with THQ and Yukes at the dawn of the new millennia and while the first attempt was mostly a miss, WWF SmackDown on the PS1 laid down the foundation for future games, and several of those installments were very well-received. SmackDown Here Comes The Pain and SmackDown vs RAW 2006 are regarded as some of the best wrestling games ever made, alongside classics such as WWF No Mercy on Nintendo 64.

However, in 2013, after years of financial woes, THQ went under and its assets were liquidated, signaling the end to the partnership between the WWE and the now-defunct gaming company. Yuke's would still remain with WWE until 2020 but more on that later. The WWE wasted no time in joining hands with a new partner to continue the yearly tradition of wrestling games and their new partner was 2K Games.

THQ going bankrupt was a bitter pill to swallow for wrestling fans as the company had released a number of excellent games but with the announcement of the partnership between WWE and 2K Games, fans were hopeful that the franchise would be in safe hands. After all, 2K Games had a good track record with several legit NBA games and Yukes was still around to provide assistance.

Sad to say, many of their games flopped critically and with fans, and some regard the WWE 2K Games as an insult to the legacy of wrestling games. The first game, WWE 2K14 was okay at best but in the next couple of years, fans would get basically the same game with a different cover and the much-emphasized improvements barely amount to anything in regards to the overall presentation.

The graphics of WWE 2K games are impressive but that is to be expected, given the capabilities of the current console. However, these impressive graphics still pale in comparison to the 2K’s NBA series, and the graphics glitches and mishaps have plagued the WWE games consistently and still persist despite the various patches 2K puts out.

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Subpar graphics can always be forgiven if the gameplay is enjoyable but sadly, this is where WWE 2K games flop the most. The first SmackDown game was a confusing mess in terms of genre as it was too fast-paced for a hybrid wrestling simulation but the following games found a good balance between high pace and wrestling simulation. Meanwhile, WWE 2K plays as slow as a snail, lacking the adrenaline and intensity of the previous installments. This glaring flaw was pointed out during the first game in the series but year after year, 2K Games refuses to correct the game engine. The more recent games slow down to a crawl when multiple superstars are present on the screen.

Worst Wrestling Game of the Modern Era?

All of these issues reached a head in the abysmal WWE 2k20, released in 2019. The game, upon release, was a mess of graphical glitches and was torture to play. 2K Games released a number of patches to fix some of the more game-breaking glitches but the mess was beyond saving and currently stands as the worst game in the series so far as they had to upload a patch to fix the internal clock of the game as the game crashed upon the dawn of the new year, illustrating the height of rushed programming. Unfortunately, given the horrendous track record of 2K Games, even WWE 2K20 might be surpassed unless a complete revamp rolls out.

WWE 2K21 was canceled for the very reason, as 2K20 bombed in sales and elicited outrage from the fans. The fact that 2K20 even hit the shelves worldwide shows that 2K Games simply does not invest enough effort and time into the WWE series and the fact is painfully clear after years and years of the same game is given a new number to keep up with the year. Nothing substantial has been added into the games for years, aside from insulting DLC packages which include not only legends but current superstars.

WWE by 2K has been stagnant for years and while the product on television has picked up speed and intensity, the games have failed to keep up.