It's no secret that WWE fans weren't happy about WWE 2K20. The game launched in a buggy and downright broken state, resulting in scathing reviews from critics and fans alike. WWE 2K20's disastrous launch was so bad that 2K Sports decided to move away from the franchise's annual release schedule to give developer Visual Concepts extra time to develop the next game in the series, WWE 2K22. But it seems that fans and critics weren't the only ones unhappy about WWE 2K20. Evidently, WWE itself wasn't impressed, and so it has reportedly had talks with EA about giving it the reigns to WWE video games.

This is according to a new report by Mike Straw of Fightful Select. According to Straw, the reception to WWE 2K22 will be "make or break," potentially ending the partnership between WWE and Take-Two if it's not a hit. Straw's report claims that WWE and EA have had on and off talks "for years," but renewed after the significant backlash surrounding WWE 2K20 and the disappointing WWE 2K Battlegrounds that launched in 2021. Apparently, "WWE has shown a lot of frustration" with how the latest WWE 2K games have been received, hence why it has started looking for a potential new partner in EA.

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If the WWE license does make the jump to EA, then it's believed that EA Vancouver will be trusted with making the game, and that it would likely be years between the release of WWE 2K22 and the next game in the series. This might be disappointing news for fans since there was already an almost three-year gap between WWE 2K20 and WWE 2K22, but the bright side is that EA Vancouver is generally considered to have done a good job with its UFC games, so that would bode well for the quality of future WWE releases.

There haven't been many reviews for WWE 2K22 released just yet, but the game seems to be significantly better-received than its predecessor. Whether or not it will be enough to convince WWE to keep the license with 2K Sports remains to be seen, but it will definitely be interesting to see what happens.

The downside to 2K Sports losing the WWE video game license would be that the work done on WWE 2K22 would essentially be wasted. WWE 2K22 has a solid foundation that future installments could build on to make a more compelling experience. For example, there are some shortcomings with WWE 2K22's MyGM mode that could be rectified in a potential sequel, but that will never happen if the license goes to EA.

Time will tell if the WWE license jumps ship from 2K Sports to EA, but if it does, EA Sports will have an even tighter grip on the sports video games industry.

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Source: Fightful Select (via ComicBook)