WWE Confirms to Investors: WWE 2K21 Cancelled

WWE 2K20

WWE have confirmed to investors that WWE 2K21 has been cancelled, after being rumored the week prior.

We previously reported how WWE 2K20 suffered a litany of glitches and bugs on launch. The situation has grown so bad, it seems Sony were offering refunds of the game on PlayStation 4.


It is worth noting while WWE 2K games used to be developed by Yukes. 2K Games ended their partnership in August 2019.

WWE 2K20 was instead developed by Visual Concepts, who also developed NBA 2K20, which has also been having similar outcry over unskippable adverts, and lootbox mechanics heavily focused on gambling style marketing (in a game rated E for Everyone by the ESRB, and PEGI 3 in Europe).

A former WWE game writer, Justin Leeper, then claimed that WWE 2K21 had been cancelled before its announcement. In summation, Leeper claims from “reliable sources” that the game was cancelled. He also cited the lack of any announcement of the game at this year’s WWE Wrestlemania event.

Now, during a WWE investor call, an investor asks (at 57:56) whether the WWE 2K game was in the company’s budget that year. Interim Chief Financial Officer Frank A Riddick responds “no, there’s not going to be a launch of the game this year.”

This has not yet been announced by 2K Games on Twitter, or WWE on their Twitter. In the prior article, Leeper hinted that 2K Games may releasing “a different kind of WWE game” to act as a “palate cleanser.” 

This is allegedly from a developer that is not Visual Concepts, though Leeper avoids elaborating. “I’ve been around long enough to know that you don’t wanna make marketing people mad.” It may be possible no cancellation will be announced, with the announcement of this new game distracting from the cancellation.

We will keep you informed as we learn more.

Image: WWE 2K20 Steam

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Ryan was a former Niche Gamer contributor.


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