WWE’s wrestling games in the last decade have not been a talking point for many reasons. Call it lack of innovation, too much PG stuff, or blame it on the acute emphasis on realism that has only made the games feel tedious. However, all these reasons combined still can not justify the disaster that is known as WWE 2K20. Let’s take a look at why this game is rated 1.5/10 on Metacritic and what exactly happened.

Skimpy Reveal Trailer - The main reveal trailer for the game came out all the way in August 2019, a mere two months before the game's actual release. The 49-second trailer featured 40 seconds of real footage showing vintage or popular wrestlers at a party and 5 seconds of in-game cutscenes. As expected, people didn’t bother much. However, this should’ve been alarming since the game was coming out in October of the same year, and there was no actual gameplay.

Gameplay Trailer (1/2) - The gameplay trailer came out later that year, a few weeks before the game’s actual release. This was the second red flag, as the so-called gameplay trailer didn’t feature gameplay but in-game cutscenes. The trailer's main focus was to show off the new gimmick matches that really looked exciting from the outside.

Gameplay Trailer (2/2) - At this point, there were two main things many fans didn’t realize. One, this was not a gameplay trailer, and if it was, 2K needs to learn from Rockstar Games how to do a proper gameplay trailer. Two, something is wrong with the gameplay mechanics. Otherwise, why show a bunch of cutscenes.

Failed Launch and Backlash (1/2) - Upon the release of this game, it was clear what was happening. 2K has just robbed the fans by releasing a half-baked game, unfinished, and full of bugs and glitches. There were refunds, Youtube videos full of backlashes, and tons and tons of negative reviews. This game was really choke-slammed by the players; no puns intended.

Failed Launch and Backlash (2/2) - The online barely worked, the animations were wonky, and many features were just gone. The game truly felt worse than 2k15, which was 2K’s first attempt at WWE games. But where did all the improvements go? How did the game series go from the semi-decent 2k19 to almost being like a pre-alpha of 2k15?

Backstory - Take a look at the wiki of WWE 2K19 and WWE 2K20; something is missing. The long-time Japanese video game developer, Yuke's Co. Ltd, is no longer associated with the game. The veteran team that has spent 25 years building wrestling games was suddenly booted out of the 2K series, and it is safe to say "mistakes were made." The code and game were instead reworked and rebuilt by Visual Concepts. But why give the game to a developer who’s known for building NBA titles?

WWE Game Writer Reveals Some Brutal Truth (1/2) - Justin Leeper, The writer, designer, and director of story mode on 3 WWE games (SVR09/10/11), gave his opinion on what exactly happened. First, he talked about how Yuke's was working with an unimaginable speed to wrap up these yearly WWE games. He said that Yuke’s wasn’t perfect, but it got the job done. He also suggested that a 10-month cycle for building a brand new game is not easy, which is why WWE games see such non-existent evolution every year, yet Yuke’s was doing its best. Then he talked about what might have happened when 2K Sports shifted the title to a new team.

WWE Game Writer Reveals Some Brutal Truth (2/2) - Despite their best efforts, building or even copying the speed of Yuke’s was not possible. 2K was supposed to invest more time, but they didn’t have it, which is why 2K20 was such a mess. Something as scripted as an entrance had glitches, which talks about the team’s inexperience with the game engine. He called WWE 2K20 was not fit for a demo, much less a shipped game. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8ozRRoMhqU

What’s Next? - As evident, the team needed more time, so they had to skip one game. WWE 2K21 was never built. Instead, the team has been focusing on building a brand new experience, known as WWE 2K22. Seeing how this could be the first-ever WWE game on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, gamers are certainly excited for this one. Sadly, since the game will also release on PS4 and Xbox One, chances are the “IT HITS DIFFERENT” tagline might be just that, a tagline. On the other hand, players can expect a much more polished version of 2K20 with additional features in WWE 2K22. That being said, the game is stated to be released in Q3 or Q4 of 2021, and there is still no official gameplay trailer out there. Kinda alarming.