Last year, WWE 2K20 launched to scathing reviews, becoming one of the most poorly-reviewed professional wrestling games of all time. With WWE 2K20's negative reviews translated into poor sales, and so the decision was made to put the main WWE 2K series on hold, giving Visual Concepts an extra year of development time for WWE 2K22. While there will be no WWE 2K21, that doesn't mean WWE fans will be completely without a new game to play this year.
2K Sports has announced WWE 2K Battlegrounds, a new arcade-style WWE game that favors over-the-top action over simulation. Aesthetically, it's similar to the NBA 2K Playground series, and it may remind some fans of the WWE All-Stars game that released a few years back. If the WWE 2K Battlegrounds trailer is anything to go by, the game will feature supernatural powers and crazy environmental hazards, including an alligator that can eat wrestlers that are knocked out of the ring on one stage.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds looks as though it will feature a roster of major current and past WWE superstars. The trailer confirms Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, John Cena, and The Rock for the roster, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin has been confirmed as well. It's likely even more WWE superstars will be revealed for WWE 2K Battlegrounds in the coming months, so fans should stay tuned for more information.
As it stands, there's still a lot that we don't know about WWE 2K Battlegrounds beyond a vague fall release date. 2K Sports didn't even confirm which platforms the game will be coming to, which could be a sign that it's due for a next-gen or cross-gen launch. After all, both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are also expected to launch this fall, so it's possible that WWE 2K Battlegrounds will be the first pro wrestling game on the next-generation consoles.
Alternatively, it's possible that so little was revealed of WWE 2K Battlegrounds with its announcement because some details have yet to be ironed out. It's possible that 2K Sports announced WWE 2K Battlegrounds early as a way to make amends to fans who are upset that WWE 2K21 is not launching this year.
Whatever the case may be, fans can expect more information on WWE 2K Battlegrounds as the game nears its fall release date.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds is launching fall 2020 for unspecified platforms.