WWE fans were both disheartened and emboldened by the news that 2K will not be publishing a WWE 2K21 this year. Disheartened, because it implied no big WWE game in 2020, but emboldened because WWE 2K20 and 2K were both so heavily criticized for the game’s quality. A new twist has taken place, however, with 2K issuing a statement. According to 2K, news will be shared about the future of the WWE 2K franchise on Monday, including something exciting that some guess could be a new game.
There’s very little context to add to 2K’s statement, as it was a single-sentence post on Twitter. “We will be sharing details on the future of the WWE 2K franchise as well as some exciting news on Monday at 7:00 am PT” is the full statement. Presumably, 2K will first talk about WWE 2K21 not being made and if that was always the plan or if things changed recently.
All that WWE said about WWE 2K21 during its investor call on Thursday was that there would be no annual release this year. That doesn’t mean that one was planned, however. After the controversial launch of WWE 2K20, WWE and 2K could have agreed to focus on WWE 2K22 instead. It also doesn’t mean that there won’t be a different, non-annual WWE game released this year.
Rumors are swirling that 2K will be releasing a different WWE game in 2020 instead of WWE 2K21, lending to the idea that no WWE 2K21 was ever planned. Instead, 2K will publish a game made by a different internal studio that’s more of a throwback or arcade-style wrestling game.
It’s also certainly possible that 2K will not be announcing a new game, or will be announcing a game that isn’t WWE 2K for 2021, too. WWE 2K20 has obviously thrown the publisher’s annual goals out the window, so anything could be possible going forward. One thing’s for sure, Visual Concepts is still working on WWE games for 2K.
For now, WWE fans will have to settle for the news that there will be no annual WWE 2K game in 2020. Whether that means no WWE game at all, and what that means for the WWE 2K franchise’s future, will have to wait to be answered on Monday at 7:00 pm PT.
WWE 2K20 is available now PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
