WrestleMania season begins with the Royal Rumble pay-per-view and extends into early April with the "Granddaddy of Them All." Prior to January, the WWE usually finishes up its major promotion of the latest video game from 2K Games. WWE 2K20 launched in fall 2019 and quickly became one of the worst wrestling video games in recent memory, but after taking 2020 off, 2K Games appears to be back in business.
Anyone that played WWE 2K20, particularly at launch, can attest to its game-breaking details and nearly unplayable nature. Developer 2K Games seems to have realized the error of its ways, as it announced there would not be a WWE 2K21 in the year 2020. Instead, a new game was brought out called WWE Battlegrounds, though that also dealt with glitches upon launch. A new report suggests another break may not be taking place this year.
According to PWInsider, as reported by Fightful.com, 2K Games is working at the Royal Rumble PPV Sunday in St. Petersburg, Florida. Mike Johnson reports the California-based publisher is there conducting face scans and voiceover work for the next edition of a WWE game, presumably releasing in fall 2021. This would make sense given the entire WWE roster should be at the Royal Rumble PPV.
The year-long hiatus by 2K Games may prove to be a good decision following the extreme nature of the negative press WWE 2K20 garnered. It was received so poorly by the community that Metacritic scores for the 2019 title sit at 43 for PS4 and 42 for Xbox One. The annual product developed by Yuke's was well-received in the mid-2000s, but has seemingly stagnated more with recent entries.
WWE likely isn't sweating the year without a major video game title. NBC's streaming platform Peacock announced it purchased the WWE Network, a streaming service that debuted in 2014, this week. Being that it is WrestleMania season, many big names are getting announced as well. WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Edge announced his return to the squared circle at the Royal Rumble.
There is a good chance WWE 2K22 will get announced in the spring or summer of 2021. As far as a timeline is concerned, a cover athlete is usually reported by the WWE in the summer, promotion starts on WWE shows soon after that, and the 2K Games title is usually the major sponsor of one of the PPV events leading up to its release. WWE fans can likely expect to hear news near WrestleMania time, which is less than three months away.
Sources: PWInsider.com (via Fightful.com), Metacritic