Saber Interactive to Develop WWE 2K Battlegrounds, Mainline Entry Will Not Be Released in 2020

2K has revealed their plans for the WWE 2K franchise, which generally see a yearly release on console. In recent years, the series has really taken a dive in quality as the games have shipped with numerous bugs and issues, which has hurt its reputation.

The publisher has now revealed a new game in the series with WWE 2K Battlegrounds. Yes, this is a completely new game that features arcade-style action with a cartoonish visual design for the characters. The team is “focusing on social pick-up-and-play fun, but with plenty of depth for those who want to get way into it.”

WWE 2K Battlegrounds is aimed at casual gamers and passionate fans. The game is being developed by Saber Interactive, who previously released NBA 2K Playgrounds.

The publisher also mentioned the recent cancellation of WWE 2K20:

We’ve heard and appreciate your feedback, and continue to listen to you closely. Since launch, we’ve released five title updates, addressing hundreds of reported concerns, and have released four WWE 2K20 Originals DLC expansions to build on and improve the experience. We’ve also heard your requests to keep the WWE 2K19 servers running; they will remain active for the time being.

All of that being said, we hear you and we know you want more from the franchise, so here’s what we’re going to do: we are applying what we’ve learned to the next WWE 2K simulation game with a renewed focus on quality and fun. As part of that commitment, we are extending the production timeline and will not be releasing a WWE 2K simulation game in 2020 (T2 fiscal year 2021). We want to ensure the development team at Visual Concepts can create a great game that will entertain grizzled WWE 2K veterans, as well as newcomers who want to climb through the ropes and step into the ring for the very first time.

Hopefully, this ends up helping the series in the long run.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds is releasing in Fall 2020.

You can watch the trailer below: