WWE officially confirmed on Wednesday that the next installment in its annual video game, WWE 2K21, has been canceled and will not be released in 2020. Reports of the game not being made first popped up several weeks ago, though a 2K spokesperson declined to comment on the rumors as recently as April 14. WWE interim CFO Frank Riddick confirmed the game’s cancellation at the end of the conference call by simply saying, “There is not going to be a launch of a game this year.” This marks the first time WWE has not released a game of any kind on any console since 1997.
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Hours later 2K’s official Twitter account posted a response to the news, saying they would be addressing the franchise’s future on Monday.
We will be sharing details on the future of the WWE 2K franchise as well as some exciting news on Monday at 7:00 a.m. PT.
— 2K (@2K) April 24, 2020
Justin Leeper, who worked on three installments in the SmackDown vs. Raw series, was the first to speculate that 2K21 had been canceled back on April 11.
“I have heard from reliable sources, and I truly believe, that WWE 2K21 has been canceled. There will be no game this year,” Leeper said at the time, later adding, “2K is publishing a different kind of WWE game from a different kind of game developer that’s not Visual Concepts.”
Riddick mentioned on the 2019 year-end conference call that the company had lost $2 million in revenue in the consumer products division due in large part to poor game sales.
“Revenues decreased to $30.8 million from $32.8 million in the prior year quarter primarily due to lower video game royalties, which were driven by the Company’s franchise console game WWE 2K20,” he said at the time.
WWE had been putting out a game co-developed by Visual Concepts and Yuke’s every year (first by THQ Games, then by 2K starting in 2013) beginning in 2000 with WWF SmackDown on the PlayStation. WWE 2K20 was the first game to be developed solely by Visual Concepts, and it was panned by critics for numerous glitches.
On the other side of the aisle, Cody Rhodes gave his latest update on AEW’s first video game on Wednesday.
“I’ll give the honest update: the AEW video game will be something all fans know about as we begin the process and as we move forward,” Rhodes said. “If we were to make a very good game, which is our intention, it’s going to take time. Game development is arduous, it’s a very creative space, and we want to do it right.
“We will keep people updated, it won’t come as a surprise, we want them to take the journey with us. Be extra patient so we can deliver,” he added.
