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WWE 2K21 may end up being even worse than WWE 2K20

By Patches Chance

PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 27: Gamers play the video game "WWE 2K17" developed by Visual Concepts and Yuke's and published by 2K Sports during the "Paris Games Week" on October 27, 2016 in Paris, France. "Paris Games Week is an international trade fair for video games to be held from October 26 to October 31, 2016. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - OCTOBER 27: Gamers play the video game "WWE 2K17" developed by Visual Concepts and Yuke's and published by 2K Sports during the "Paris Games Week" on October 27, 2016 in Paris, France. "Paris Games Week is an international trade fair for video games to be held from October 26 to October 31, 2016. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images) /
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WWE 2K20 may have had issues, but news about WWE 2K21 could be setting the sequel up for an even more disastrous release.

It’s not exactly the news anyone who enjoys WWE or wrestling video games wanted to hear. Unfortunately, the debacle of WWE 2K20 has already had ripple effects that could bleed all the way into WWE 2K21 next year.

Justin Leeper, who is a former writer for the WWE SmackDown vs. Raw series, posted a video on YouTube making multiple claims about developers having quit and the budget for WWE 2K21 being severely cut. Below are Leeper’s comments, which cut deep considering the issues already plaguing the WWE 2K series. [H/T Fightful for transcription]

"“2K and the people within it are trying to distance themselves from it. I’ve heard about double digit people who were on the team who have quit. They haven’t left for other stuff, they just quit because, ‘Man, I don’t want this stink on me anymore.'”“2K20 is selling poorly, it’s doing poorly all around. That means the budget is going to be cut. It means 2K21 is gonna have to be made for less money. Less money to fix things, innovate, and now there are about ten less people on the team. As you can tell, the outlook is not good for 2K21 either.”"

Hearing that the budget will potentially be cut for WWE 2K21 almost feels like a death knell for the series. WWE 2K20 was already woefully unfinished because there simply weren’t enough people working on the game. Now, to have to create the sequel with even less resources and staff, this feels like a recipe for disaster.

Prior to Leeper’s comments, marketing developer for Atomhawk (a company that provides art and design for mediums like video games), Justine Colla, elaborated (via Twitter) on some of the issues within the studio that could have led to WWE 2K20’s numerous bugs and overall low quality when compared to previous releases.

With her insight, it’s important to remember that the issues with WWE 2K20 (and potential issues with WWE 2K21) aren’t the fault of those actually working on the game. On the contrary, all of the hard-working people trying to create this game have certainly given it their all and then some.

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The blame for WWE 2K20’s problems lies solely at the feet of WWE. Knowing the debacle that the game’s release has created and the bad taste it left in the mouths of fans and gamers alike, you’d think WWE might try to reinvest in the series to turn it back into a more profitable franchise.

The poor sales figures could be a sign that the game’s quality suffered and it would benefit from a better product. Instead, WWE seems to have chosen to take it as an omen that the franchise is simply bad and can’t make them much money.

It’s incredibly disappointing for a franchise and fandom with so much potential. WWE fans clamor for good wrestling games. They still talk about the glory days of the SmackDown vs. Raw series or WWF No Mercy, the latter of which is nearly two decades old now.

WWE 2K20 is a fun game that still needs some work. dark. Next

We can hope that this news isn’t final, and WWE may yet change course and aim to improve on WWE 2K20’s flaws with a successful WWE 2K21 release. Unfortunately, every sign seems to point away from that being the case.

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