Hey and welcome back to the Revelleution and some exciting 2K news as earlier today WWE and 2K announced the brand new arcade style wrestling game WWE Battlegrounds set to release in fall of 2020.
Before get into things, lets take a look at the brand new WWE Battlegrounds Announce trailer:
Well I don’t know about you but WWE Battlegrounds looks certainly crazy to say the least. The game which is developed by Saber Interactive looks to be taking a note from their NBA Playground series which also takes the simulation style and appearance and turns it on its head offering a brand new experience for fans.
Thanks to the trailer we get our very first look at the Women’s roster for WWE Battlegrounds so far with rivals Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch going toe to toe once again, sporting their signature attires along with some over the top moves to boot. As well as Becky and Charlotte we also got confirmation of both The Rock and John Cena as well as Stone Cold Steve Austin who is featured on the promotional artwork for the game.
As far as the gameplay goes, WWE Battlegrounds seems to take a note from the hugely popular fan favourite WWE AllStars with a touch of NBA Playgrounds sprinkled into the mix. Similar to that of WWE 2K20, WWE Battlegrounds will also see it’s very own set of unique arenas with an underground battle arena as well a swamp arena with its very own OMG moment in a jaw dropping moment for poor John Cena.
Unfortunately the trailer doesn’t give any indication as to which consoles the game will be available on but if NBA Playgrounds 2 is anything to go by we could see ports on the Playstation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows as well as the Nintendo Switch which hasn’t hosted a WWE game since the controversial port of WWE 2K18.
As far as my thoughts on the game itself so far I will say I’m kind of mixed but mainly down to the games aesthetic more than anything and that fact that I’m used to playing so much of the 2K series. While you could argue that the graphics are arguably nowhere near as impressive as the main series, the gameplay does offer a much needed fresh approach to the combat style which is highly likely to bring in a whole new fanbase as well as fans of WWE AllStars and other beat em up classics.
Before we wrap things up 2K also addressed the future of the 2K series with an official statement confirming the rumours of no new WWE 2K game this year and their outlook for the series going forward. The statement is as follows:
We hear you and we know you want more from the franchise, so here’s what we’re going to do: we are applying what we’ve learned to the next WWE 2K simulation game with a renewed focus on quality and fun. As part of that commitment, we are extending the production timeline and will not be releasing a WWE 2K simulation game in 2020. 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. We’ve recruited Patrick Gilmore to serve as our new Executive Producer and lead these efforts at Visual Concepts. Patrick has over 25 years of experience in video games, reaching all the way back to Disney’s Aladdin on Sega Genesis, and including franchises like Killer Instinct, Medal of Honor, and, most recently, Amazon’s New World. He will be overseeing WWE 2K development, and you’ll be hearing more from him and the team in the months to come. In closing, we want to thank you again, and hope you’ll join us in celebrating these announcements. 2K and WWE are reaffirming a long-term commitment to expand the WWE Games family in ways that directly benefit you, the fans. We are taking the time we need to deliver the quality you deserve, while at the same time offering new experiences and ways to have fun with the WWE Superstars you love… And that’s the bottom line, ’cause 2K said so! —
Sadly that does confirm that there will be no WWE 2K21 this year but with the team putting all their focus and efforts for what could possibly be WWE 2K22 I can’t help but feel a little hope for what’s to come. I think the majority of us would agree that while 2K20 had huge potential with the inclusion of Originals and the women’s showcase, the game itself was doomed from the get go thanks to the sheer amount of bugs and glitches, with many of them sadly still residing even after multiple patches. Speaking of Originals I will be putting together a short video within the coming weeks ranking the originals from my personal best to worst as well as what I made of the originals approach as a whole. Hopefully the news of WWE Battlegrounds helps bridge the gap between now and a new simulation 2K game because I for one felt a little lost when rumours began surfacing about a year with no wwe title in sight.