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WWE 2K Battlegrounds brings arcade-style wrestling into the ring

There will be a wrestling game this year after all, but WWE 2K Battlegrounds is going to look a little bit... different.

Ozzie Mejia

April 27, 2020 10:10 AM

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Last week ended with World Wrestling Entertainment essentially declaring that there would be no wrestling game in 2020. This week begins with publisher 2K Games declaring that this is true to a certain extent. There is definitely no simulation wrestling game coming this year. However, there does look to be some arcade wrestling action on the way, courtesy of a whole new game called WWE 2K Battlegrounds.

Ever watch wrestling in the last 15 years and think, "You know who I really liked? Hornswoggle!" Well, in WWE 2K Battlegrounds, everybody is proportioned like Hornswoggle! Developer Saber Interactive, the team behind NBA 2K Playgrounds, has designed WWE's finest to look a bit... shorter. But that's part of what's said to be an over-the-top environment filled with bonkers moves, oddball environments, and even an alligator.

This is just the first teaser for the upcoming arcade release, so expect to hear more information in the months ahead. As for the WWE 2K franchise, 2K Games has also addressed its future. They added to WWE's in-house note that the franchise would take a temporary hiatus, citing a renewed focus on quality. "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," reads the issued press release. New Executive Producer Patrick Gilmore (Killer Instinct, Medal of Honor) will join the Visual Concepts team as they aim to keep the series going with WWE 2K22 next year. In the meantime, online servers on both WWE 2K20 and WWE 2K19 will remain active.

WWE 2K Battlegrounds will release this fall on PC and consoles.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?