2K Announces WWE 2K Battlegrounds, a New Arcade-Style Wrestling Game

Last week WWE confirmed that there will be no WWE 2K game this year. Today 2K Games revealed why that is, and also took the opportunity to announce a new WWE game called WWE 2K Battlegrounds. 2K Games won’t be releasing a new WWE 2K game this year, but to ease the blow the company announced a new WWE game. WWE 2K Battlegrounds is a new arcade-style brawler developed by NBA 2K Playgrounds studio Saber Interactive. You can check out a reveal trailer below: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/27/wwe-battlegrounds-reveal-trailer"] Favorite wrestlers from across eras in “over-the-top Superstar designs” will star in the new wrestling game. 2K says it’s focusing on “social pick-up-and-play fun” instead of a more traditional wrestling sim like the WWE 2K series. WWE 2K Battlegrounds is scheduled to be released this fall. As for WWE 2K21, the company said that it has heard feedback from fans regarding WWE 2K20, which was panned for its many issues like poor graphics, gameplay glitches, and bugs. In order to deliver experience fans want from a WWE game, 2K says it’s extending the production timeline for the next WWE 2K game. “We are applying what we’ve learned to the next WWE 2K simulation with a renewed focus on quality and fun,” 2K says in a press release. “As part of that commitment, we are extending the production timeline and will not be releasing a WWE 2K simulation game in fiscal year 2021.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-wwe-game-review-ever&captions=true"] As part of this renewed commitment to quality, 2K and developer Visual Concepts hired Patrick Gilmore as executive producer. Gilmore is a 25-year video game industry veteran with credits dating back to Disney’s Aladdin on Sega Genesis as well as work on Killer Instinct, Medal of Honor, and Amazon’s New World. Along with the longer development time, 2K announced it will keep servers for WWE 2K19 running and active. Visual Concepts took over the WWE 2K series from Japanese developers Yuke’s after the latter split with 2K to work on its own wrestling game. For more on why WWE 2K may be going into extra development, read our review for WWE 2K20. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.