Reports are coming in that the next WWE 2K game won’t be a rip-roaring blockbuster anymore. According to the news cycle, various members of the development team have picked up their bags and quit due to the stressful conditions of working on WWE 2K games, and especially after the disastrous launch of WWE 2K20. These same reports are now indicating that the budget for WWE 2K21 may be slashed.
411Mania picked up the news from Justin Leeper, a former writer on the WWE Smackdown vs Raw series when THQ owned the license, who stated that various team members have quit and that the budget for the next game will be severely reduced.
They quoted Leeper as saying…
“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.”
This is true… about the sales, anyway.
As noted by Forbes, opening week sales have consistently dropped lower and lower over the last five years.
Much like WWE creative over Raw and Smackdown, instead of improving the product and making something people would actually want to buy, 2K Games doubled down and kept making trash that people resented, and now openly mock and hate.
Penguinz0 basically sums it up in their 13 minute video.
The annual sports formula did not do the WWE 2K license any justice, and the quantity of quality took a nose dive each and every year until we ended up with… well… this…
There’s no way to confirm right now if the departures are true or if the budget will be cut unless 2K Games issues a statement, but I doubt they’ll do that right now given that it would mean they would have to verify to investors and shareholders that they have a legitimate stinker on their hands.
However, we’ll definitely find out if the reports about the budget cuts are true when the features for WWE 2K21 are rolled out next year.
(Thanks for the news tip Hakase)
