WWE 2K Battlegrounds Is A New Arcade-Style Game Coming This Year

With the WWE 2K series taking a year off, 2K Sports will release a brand-new WWE game in its place. The new game is called WWE 2K Battlegrounds, and it's described as a "completely new WWE gaming experience."

As its name suggests, Battlegrounds is an arcade-style wrestling game. It's developed by Saber Interactive, which is the same team that developed NBA 2K Playgrounds 2, also an arcade-style game.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds features some of the WWE's most popular wrestlers, including The Rock and Steve Austin, presented with "over-the-top" character models and moves. "We're focusing on social pick-up-and-play fun, but with plenty of depth for those who want to get way into it," 2K said.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds is set to launch this fall, but 2K did not release a list of platforms. The company also did not say if Battlegrounds will be a full-price title or a budget-sized game like NBA 2K Playgrounds. More details on the title will be shared in the coming months.

2K also confirmed that WWE 2K21--a simulation game--will not release this year. The company is looking over the feedback from the poorly received WWE 2K20 and will put an emphasis on "quality and fun" for the next instalment in the series. 2K is giving the developers at Visual Concepts more time to realize this vision, and as such, the new game is scheduled to launch sometime in 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," 2K said.

The publisher also confirmed that it has hired gaming industry veteran Patrick Gilmore to head up the new WWE 2K simulation game for Visual Concepts. Gilmore comes to Visual Concepts from Amazon, where he was the studio head for the company's office in Orange County that is working on the MMO New World and the Lord of the Rings MMO.

"We hope you find this news as exciting as we do. We are confident it will lead to better games in the future," 2K said about the changes.