How WWE 2K20 Almost Destroyed The Franchise

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Moiz Banoori

At Tech4Gamers, he is recognized for his insightful features and opinion pieces, where he blends his passion for gaming with a keen understanding of technological trends. His work, marked by depth and accessibility, makes him a respected voice in the tech and gaming community.

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Wwe 2k20

The WWE 2K franchise was introduced in 2013, with the first game being WWE 2K14. The franchise started pretty well, with its first game improving gameplay over the previous WWE game while introducing some new cool features. The franchise faced some ups and downs as the years passed, but nothing was as wrong as the 9th installment, WWE 2K20.

Everything Wrong with WWE 2K20

The infamous WWE 2K20 is one of the worst wrestling games in history. The hype before the game was released was real because of the success of WWE 2K19, which fixed almost every issue the previous games had and was also fun in gameplay.

This good momentum from 2K had everyone believing in them; therefore, many players pre-ordered the game, but they all got the disappointment of a lifetime. Right from its release day, the game had every issue known in video games.

Character models were tearing apart, ring ropes tangled, and weapons randomly flew around. You could not possibly have a match because you didn’t even know where your character was going on the screen, as they were usually stuck under the ring.

Moreover, the game had stability issues as well. It would crash now and then. So, if your game worked decently for a match by any miracle, it would randomly shut down, and all of your progress would be lost.

The only good thing I liked about this game was it’s hilarious. I have never seen this many stupid glitches in any other video game, but at least it made me at some points, so that’s a plus.

Reason Why WWE 2K20 Had So Many Issues

WWE 2K20 is exceptionally glitchy and unplayable because Yuke’s, the development team for the previous WWE 2K games, left before the development of 2K20, and the transition from Yuke’s to the new development team affected the development process.

That said, 2K could at least have delayed the release date for the game to fix these significant issues. The game was so challenging on them financially that the sales weren’t as good as targeted. Most of the players started demanding a refund for the game.

Fortunately for the fans, they got their money back, but these refunds negatively impacted 2K. Thankfully, WWE 2K19 was still on sale in the digital stores, and the online servers for the game were also active, so the players still had something to play. 

2K tried to fix the reported issues over time via several updates, but the updates took time, and they still didn’t initially provide the fans with what they wanted from the game. Moreover, the damage was already done due to the game’s first impressions.

How 2K Made A Comeback After This Disaster

After WWE 2K20’s failure concluded, there were rumors that WWE would give their wrestling games contract to another company. This meant it was over for 2K, and in the worst way possible. However, 2K didn’t let things go that easily and negotiated a deal with the company. After these disasterful events, 2K had to devise a different approach to win the fans back, and they did.

They went on a year without releasing a fully-fledged WWE game, which is the first time in WWE history since the late 90s. This was an intelligent decision that 2K made and was for the greater good, as during this time, they got to focus on completely rebuilding a new engine for the next game in the franchise.

With the release of WWE 2K22, 2K made a successful comeback. The game had a mix of arcade and simulation gameplay, improved controls, and many new features like blocking and dodging, which made it so much fun.

Some things were still missing from the game, but overall, it was far better than the disappointing game we got in WWE 2K20.

2K proved that they were still the right people for the job, and ever since the revamped engine, the franchise has become more vital than ever. Later, they fixed 2K20, and it’s a pretty stable game now.

Moiz Banoori

Moiz Banoori, with a decade of experience in gaming and tech journalism and a degree in journalism, is a notable figure in the industry. He has contributed to various esteemed platforms, showcasing his expertise in both reporting and opinion writing.