WWE 2K21 officially cancelled, WWE Battlegrounds coming instead

2K Games has made it official, WWE 2K21 has been canned. In its place, gamers will find Battlegrounds, a game with a decidedly more arcade-y tilt.

Welcome to the Battlegrounds

When it was announced last year that a second wrestling game was in development from 2K, I doubt this was what fans had in mind. Nevertheless, it appears that WWE Battlegrounds was what the publisher was preparing.

The new game is a decidedly more arcade-like affair, complete with exaggerated character models. It also looks like it’ll stock a roster that will include a fair shake of WWE greats, like Stone Cold and The Rock.

Yeah, I’m pretty sure John Cena got eaten by a croc there. So it looks like arenas will have… stage-fatalities? Could be, as developer Saber Interactive leans into the arcade flavor of Battlegrounds. Right now we know very little about the game though, which will be coming up some time later this year.

But, you ask, what about the WWE 2K series? Well, according to the publisher, they’ve heard the fans concerns sound and clear. As a result, 2K has moved to cancel 2K21, and will give developer Visual Concepts a full year more to get the next iteration of the series out.

That’s pretty good news honestly, as 2K20 was loaded with issues, and seemed rushed in the wake of developer Yukes being shown the proverbial door. Oh, on that, if you’re still loving 2K19, 2K has some good news for you.

From the press release:

Next, we want to address WWE 2K20. We’ve heard and appreciate your feedback, and continue to listen to you closely. Since launch, we’ve released five title updates, addressing hundreds of reported concerns, and have released four WWE 2K20 Originals DLC expansions to build on and improve the experience. We’ve also heard your requests to keep the WWE 2K19 servers running; they will remain active for the time being.

All of that being said, we hear you and we know you want more from the franchise, so here’s what we’re going to do: we are applying what we’ve learned to the next WWE 2K simulation game with a renewed focus on quality and fun. As part of that commitment, we are extending the production timeline and will not be releasing a WWE 2K simulation game in 2020 (T2 fiscal year 2021). We want to ensure the development team at Visual Concepts can create a great game that will entertain grizzled WWE 2K veterans, as well as newcomers who want to climb through the ropes and step into the ring for the very first time.

We’ve recruited Patrick Gilmore to serve as our new Executive Producer and lead these efforts at Visual Concepts. Patrick has over 25 years of experience in video games, reaching all the way back to Disney’s Aladdin on Sega Genesis, and including franchises like Killer Instinct, Medal of Honor, and, most recently, Amazon’s New World. He will be overseeing WWE 2K development, and you’ll be hearing more from him and the team in the months to come.
We hope you find this news as exciting as we do. We are confident it will lead to better games in the future.

2K Games