Can WWE 2K22 Save the Cursed Franchise?

pcmag.com:

When you talk about horrible game releases in recent memory, few stand out quite as much as WWE 2K20. Publisher 2K Sports broke with the series’ long-standing and well-respected developer Yuke’s and handed the franchise to Visual Concepts, who had previously done solid work on 2K’s basketball titles.

The result was an unmitigated disaster. Although VC had been co-developers on the WWE games since 2014, without Yuke’s guiding hands WWE 2K20 shipped in October 2019 as an unsatisfying mess. Long-time fans bemoaned the clumsy gameplay, dated graphics, and ridiculous, game-breaking bugs.

After taking a year off, 2K is back with a new WWF game. Let’s slam into what happened with 2K20 and see if this year’s offering can turn things around.

First, we should rewind a little bit and get into the history of grappling in video games. Starting with primitive approximations like Pro Wrestling for the NES, developers knew that the genre was good money. As technology improved, these games became more and more realistic and impressive. A few Japanese studios carved out solid niches making them, including Aki (Virtual Pro Wrestling) and Human (Fire Pro), as well as Yuke’s, who were recommended to 2K by Aki.

The Yuke’s / WWE partnership was productive for the company for almost two decades. Although the games weren’t terribly innovative or progressive, they gave the fan base what they wanted—all their favorite WWE Superstars, matches, a robust character creator, and more.

However, before the release of WWE 2K19, Yuke’s president Hiromi Furata announced something a little shocking—although the company was still going to work on WWE games, it also wanted to return to its own wrestling games, to keep its team inspired and diversify the