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It seems like the WWE isn’t very happy with how Take-Two Interactive’s wrestling games have turned out recently. Wrestling News caught a report from the Fightful Select Patreon account which stated thatWWE has been in talks with EA for years.
The wrestling company previously signed a 6 year contract with Take-Two in 2016. The contract has an option to extend the length, but now it seems like it hinges on the success of WWE 2K22. The next installment of the WWE 2K series launches on March 8, and a market failure could see WWE seek greener pastures with EA.
WWE feels that other games in the 2K series receive more resources and attention than the wrestling series. It believes a direct link exists between this disregard and the series’ lack of sales and high review scores. The company claims the budget for the WWE 2K series has decreased every year since the release of WWE 2K15.
The biggest question right now is what WWE considers a success. The WWE 2K series has historically landed pretty average review scores across the internet. The two most recent games are counter-examples; WWE 2K19 was well received, while WWE 2K20 was maybe the worst game of the entire franchise.
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If WWE is looking for a big Metacritic score, all Take-Two needs is to put out a good game. Take-Two’s Visual Concepts took a year after the release of WWE 2K20 to try and come up with something great. Maybe it pulled it off.
Take-Two might be sweating if WWE wants big sales numbers, though. The series has seen declining sales with almost every release for years.
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