WWE 2K20 is a professional wrestlingvideo game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released worldwide on October 22, 2019 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twenty-first game in the WWEgame series and the seventh under the WWE 2K banner. The successor to WWE 2K19, 2K20 is the first game in the series to not be developed by Yuke's, which developed every entry in the series since its inception in 2000. They were replaced by Visual Concepts, who had previously worked with Yuke's as co-developers. WWE 2K20received negative reviews, with critics noting a regression in quality compared to WWE 2K19. The game has since gained notoriety in both the wrestling and gaming community for its bugs at launch and technical issues.
Gameplay
Game modes
WWE 2K20's 2K Showcase mode revolves around the Four Horsewomen of WWE. The 2K Towers mode, first introduced in WWE 2K19, made its return to the series. WWE 2K20 features a female MyCareer story alongside its male story, the first for 2K. The WWE Towers Mode Returned, with one of the towers centered around Roman Reigns, with matches with unique commentary from Extreme Rules to Stomping Grounds.
Development
WWE 2K20 is the first game in the series to be solely developed by Visual Concepts; previous entries were co-developed by Yuke's. Eminem was reported to be curating the soundtrack of the game early in development, but talks with the rapper fell through after the news was leaked before it was made official. The game was formally announced on August 5, 2019, with a trailer announcing Becky Lynch and Roman Reigns as cover stars. This marks the first game in the WWE 2K series to feature a female cover star, and the first game since WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 to have more than one cover star.
Release
The collectors' edition, the "SmackDown20th Anniversary Edition", featured the return of Chyna as a playable character, who has not been featured in a WWE video game since in 2000. The game also featured the return of Hulk Hogan, who last appeared in WWE 2K15.
Downloadable content
Four DLC expansions were released for the game under the banner "WWE 2K Originals", which include Showcase episodes, arenas, and character skins and accessories based on fantasy settings. All DLC expansions were made available as part of a season pass, while the season pass was bundled with the Deluxe and SmackDown 20th Anniversary Edition SKUs of the game. The first, "Bump in the Night", is a horror-themed expansion centered upon Bray Wyatt's "The Fiend" persona, the second expansion "Wasteland Wanderers" is a dystopian-themed expansion centered upon Seth Rollins, the third is based on WWE's digital series Southpaw Regional Wrestling, and the fourth, "Empire of Tomorrow", carries a futuristic theme and a focus on female characters.
Reception
WWE 2K20 received "generally unfavorable" reviews on all platforms according to review aggregatorMetacritic. Reviewers criticized the physics, graphics, targeting, change in controls and the numerous glitches. Brian Mazique of Forbes gave it a 5.25 out of 10, saying “It feels as if this was a rebuilding year for the WWE 2K franchise." Mazique also said, "While a few of the legacy strengths such as the creation suite are still strong, the most important part, the gameplay is in a bad place." Matt Fowler of IGN gave the game a rating of 4.3 out of 10 and called it a "mess". He went on to state, "WWE 2K19 looked like it stopped the downward trend for the series, but WWE 2K20 doubles back, breaks its ankle, and tumbles down the slope. Fundamental parts that felt totally fine in WWE 2K19 now feel clumsy, the impressive roster of 238 superstars is all but meaningless when a majority of them look like they crawled out of a PS2-era wrestling game, and while 2K20s MyCareer mode offers a better wrestling story mode than most previous WWE 2K games, that’s a low bar to clear – it’s still saddled with bad progression and a plodding pace. This is a mess that 2K needs to clean up in a hurry." GamesRadar+'s Ben Wilson gave it 2 and a half stars, giving the verdict "WWE 2K20 plays like a work-in-progress demo that’s yet to be stress-tested - but there’s a decent game somewhere under the hot mess." GameSpot gave 2K20 a 2/10 rating, the lowest score in the series. The game received notable backlash on social media platforms, where the hashtag #FixWWE2K20 began trending. At the start of 2020, the game was rendered almost unplayable due to a "Y2k20" bug.
Series future
In April 2020, former WWE video games writer Justin Leeper reported that the successor to WWE 2K20, WWE 2K21 has been cancelled. The decision was made due to 2K20's poor sales in addition to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the video game industry. Leeper would go on to state that 2K will publish a different WWE game in 2020, while WWE 2K22 will be released in 2021 for current gen consoles and "probably" PCs. On April 27, 2020, 2K announced the spin-off title WWE 2K Battlegrounds which will be released in September 2020.
