WWE 2K Battlegrounds is a unique professional wrestling game. In many ways, it's a breath of fresh air compared to the realism-focused annual WWE 2K series, since Battlegrounds has more stylized visuals and gameplay. But Battlegrounds has perhaps pushed a bit too far in one of its upcoming updates. Battlegrounds devs say they are going to add a wrestler that's now a part of WWE competitor AEW: Sting.
There are 14 new wrestlers being added to WWE 2K Battlegrounds in the month of December. These wrestlers include WWE legends including Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, and Roddy Piper. Few are as iconic as Sting, however, who is being added to the game on December 23. The problem is that Sting is no longer contracted with WWE as of May 2020. It took many by surprise when Sting walked out with his iconic face paint and baseball bat on AEW Dynamite on December 2.
It's officially confirmed that Sting has signed a multi-year contract with the increasingly popular All Elite Wrestling promotion. He's confirmed to be a near-weekly presence on AEW's TNT show, Dynamite. And while fans are skeptical Sting will ever step into the ring, given his well-known and serious wrestling-related injuries, his contract apparently leaves the door open. What hasn't been reported is that Sting has any remaining relationship with WWE that would explain his appearance in Battlegrounds.
No apparent explanation for Sting's inclusion in WWE 2K Battlegrounds is available. It's possible that WWE retains some license to use Sting's likeness in its video games despite his larger overall contract ending. It seems more likely that the Sting character has been in production since before the contract ended. However, the likeliest conclusion is that 2K license to use Sting falls into a legal grey area where neither WWE nor AEW may be happy with the situation.
For 2K, at least, putting Sting into the game has a lot of upside. Sting's presence on AEW Dynamite helped launch the show over a million average viewers for the first time in 2020. His appearance is an incredibly popular angle, so even if WWE 2K Battlegrounds isn't an AEW game, if it has the legal license to include Sting it can only benefit from doing so.
With several days left until Sting is officially added to WWE 2K Battlegrounds, if there are any legal issues that would prevent Sting from being added then fans should hear about it soon. If not, players will want to try Sting out ASAP, because who knows how long the character may be available.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, Switch, and Xbox One.
Source: ComicBook