‘We’ve heard your voices’ – 2K unbans popular WWE 2K24 modder WhatsTheStatus following backlash

2K and WWE Games have unbanned WhatsTheStatus, a popular modder who was indefinitely restricted from the online portion of WWE 2K24 last week.

As reported by VGC, Status was banned for “violation of terms.” according to a statement from 2K.

“Mods which negatively impact the game experience for other players violate our terms. Our primary concern is a positive WWE 2K24 experience for all players,” a spokesperson for 2K told VGC at the time.

Status is known for uploading modded content as well as content typically inaccessible by players.

Now, following a backlash that saw “FreeStatus” trend in multiple countries, 2K has lifted the ban.

“@WWEGames & I have met on how my mods can impact the game. We’ve come to an agreement, and a fair one at that,” wrote Status on X, formerly Twitter on Friday.

A post from the WWEGames Reddit account followed, writing, “We’ve heard your voices and wanted to let you know we’ve met with Status and had a productive discussion, touching on stability concerns and performance issues related to some popular mods.”

“As a result of this discourse, we are lifting Status’ ban, effective immediately, working with him to bring back some of his content that doesn’t cause stability issues, and moving forward with him towards a common understanding.”

It is unknown what agreement was reached between both parties, as it’s likely that some of Status’ most popular mods won’t return to the game.

One of Status’s largest and most popular mods was that he uploaded every female wrestler in the game, however, these version of the characters could fight male wrestlers, something not possible in the base game.

While WWE has featured a few moments of intergender wrestling in recent years, it’s largely against the WWE’s brand guidelines.

When asked about the likelihood that 2K will have had to maintain the standards of their license partner in WWE, specifically regarding intergender wrestling, Status asked for “the same treatment as everyone else.”

“I was banned with no warning and no confirmation on what caused it, so it could be anything. I wasn’t the first, nor the only one to upload intergender content but I get the hit and everyone else gets away with it.”