Is WWE’s Partnership With 2K Sports Continuing After WWE 2K22? (Update)

WWE 2K22 was viewed as a “make or break” game for the business partnership between WWE and Take-Two Interactive (the parent company of 2K) according to a report that dropped prior to the game’s release. 2K Sports began publishing WWE’s annual series of console games beginning with WWE 2K14 in 2013, but it was reported earlier this month that the current deal between the two companies was only for six years and following the critical and financial flop of WWE 2K20 in 2019 the relationship was apparently on thin ice. There were even reports that WWE had been in talks with Electronic Arts about them taking over as the new publisher. 

However, a few social media posts from WWE 2K accounts seem to indicate the 2K/WWE partnership will continue. Ronnie 2K (Ronnie Singh, 2K’s Digital Marketing Director), posted a photo from WWE Headquarters with Stephanie McMahon and wrote, “The two biggest heels in the biz sitting in the boss Mr. McMahon’s @WWE chair. In all seriousness, such a pleasure meeting a person I have long admired for her presence, business acumen & philanthropy @stephaniemcmahon. To partnering on many more @wwegames launches for years to come!”

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WWE Games’ official Twitter account then posted a photo with numerous executives standing alongside McMahon. The tweet read, “Shoutout to @WWE and @StephMcMahon for the continued partnership and an amazing launch of #WWE2K22. Here’s to many more years of success!” 

Mike Straw, who broke the story about WWE being in talks with EA, then tweeted that WWE and 2K have reached an agreement on a new deal. However, neither company has officially released a statement regarding the deal as of this writing.

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Update: Straw ran a retraction to his original post hours later, writing, “Sources within WWE and a WWE PR rep have confirmed to me that contrary to the wording of the statement, there IS NO agreement at this time.” Stay tuned for further updates.

WWE 2K22 has been bringing in positive reviews since its March 8 release, with Metacritic scores of 78 and 76 for the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, respectively. ComicBook’s Matthew Aguilar labeled the game “a return worth celebrating,” writing in his review, “WWE 2K22 has a lot riding on it, and it shows. 2K22 has made video game wrestling fun again while retaining the wealth of creative options to make your experience more unique and personalized. My GM is pure gold, even with its unfortunate limits in place, and it should only get better from here. Meanwhile, 2K Showcase and My Rise offer their own distinctive ways to immerse yourself in the world of wrestling, and coupled with the impressive graphics, give you more than enough reason to keep jumping back in. Online play did have its issues early on and My Rise isn’t as refined as I’d hoped, but despite those flaws, 2K22 will continue to be in my console’s heavy rotation because of everything else it brings to the party, and I would definitely call that a success.”