WWE 2K20has had a rough go about it, to say the least. The game was critically panned when it launched, plagued by a suite of glitches, serious technical problems, and a general lack of polish. It was unclear how thequality dropped so dramatically fromWWE 2K19toWWE 2K20, though many seem to think that the departure of longtime developer Yuke’s has something to do with it. More information onWWE 2K20’s development is unavailable at this time, but an industry insider has now said that people at Visual Concepts have quit over the game’s reception, and that the budget forWWE 2K21is likely to be slashed.
This news comes from Justin Leeper, who worked as a writer and cut-scene director on some of theSmackDown vs. Rawgames, and more recently did some motion capture work for Hideo Kojima’sDeath Stranding. In a new video, Leeper has said that he has heard of “double digit” people quitting theWWE 2Kteam at Visual Concepts, and that they didn’t quit to move on to other projects. According to Leeper, these developers quit because they didn’t want the “stink” ofWWE 2K20hanging over their head anymore.
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TheWWE 2K20debaclemay also have a negative impact on next year’s game,WWE 2K21. ThepoorWWE 2K20reviewshave allegedly translated to poor sales, and according to Leeper, this means that theWWE 2K21budget will be slashed. “It’s going to have to be made for much less money,” he explained. “Which means less money to fix things, less money to innovate, and now there’s about 10 less people on the team, so as you’re able to tell the outlook’s not very good for2K21either.”
It should be noted that nothing official onWWE 2K21has been announced at all, and “double digit” employees quitting theWWE 2K20development team is also something that hasn’t been made public. Considering this, fans should take Leeper’s report with a grain of salt, though his status as a former developer on theWWEvideo game series does lend him more credibility than than just some random YouTuber.
It makes sense that ifWWE 2K20sells poorly that the sequel would get a smaller budget, and while that’s a shame, it may eventually lead to theWWEvideo game licenseheading elsewhere. 2K Sports has produced some high qualityWWEgames since acquiring the license from THQ, but getting some fresh eyes on the product could be a good thing in the long run.
WWE 2K20is out now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
