WWE 2K22 has been a big hit with WWE fans so far, with the reaction to the game positive enough to convince WWE to stick with 2K Sports for future entries in the long-running franchise. Fans have praised the return of General Manager mode, the significant technical improvements when compared to WWE 2K20, and the robust creation options. Even so, there may be those who have yet to upgrade and have stuck with WWE 2K19 and as unlikely as it may be, WWE 2K20. However, it's been announced that online support for those games will be ending in the near future.
The official WWE Games Twitter account has confirmed that the online servers for both WWE 2K19 and WWE 2K20 are being taken offline. Fans of those games will have until June 30, 2022 to check out the online modes, and after that point, they will be gone forever. All online functionality for both games will cease to work, meaning players will no longer be able to participate in online matches or download Community Creations.
In the case of WWE 2K20, it's unlikely that this is going to have an impact on all that many people. After all, WWE 2K20 had disastrous reviews at launch, with many criticizing it as possibly one of the worst wrestling game ever made, if not the worst. The backlash to WWE 2K20 was so severe that it caused 2K Sports to put the franchise on hold, skipping WWE 2K21 entirely so the developers could focus their efforts on making WWE 2K22 as good of a game as they possibly could.
WWE 2K19 and WWE 2K20 Servers Shut Down Date
- Thursday, June 30, 2022
There may be more fans upset about WWE 2K19 servers shutting down. While WWE 2K20 was panned by fans and critics alike, WWE 2K19 was actually fairly well-received, and is generally considered one of the better WWE games of the 2K era. It's a safe bet that most of the WWE 2K19 community has likely moved on to WWE 2K22 at this point, but even so, this news may be disappointing to those who still enjoy playing that particular entry in the series.
As it stands, no reason for the server shutdowns was provided, but this is something that happens to sports games quite often. Because most sports games are annual releases, the bulk of their online communities are always moving on to the latest entries, and then there are music licensing issues to take into account. The WWE 2K22 soundtrack features licensed music tracks, so while it will likely be years down the line, eventually its online functionality will cease to exist at some point as well.