Tessa Blanchard WWE 2K Battlegrounds Controversy Results in Patch Update for Game
In just its first day of release, WWE 2K Battlegrounds became part of controversy involving the likeness of a former WWE performer. Fans found what looked to be the likeness of former WWE superstar Tessa Blanchard, who worked with the company for several years. Due to ensuing controversy which also involved a photographer, 2K was planning on a patch update to resolve things.
What was the WWE 2K Battlegrounds controversy?
The WWE 2K Battlegrounds roster upon the game’s launch included up to 70 superstars, some available through unlocking them. However, Tessa Blanchard was not one of them. She’s not a current WWE superstar, though, as she only worked with the company in 2016 and 2017 in matches against the likes of Alexa Bliss, Carmella, and Nia Jax.
Still, fans found what appeared to be Tessa Blanchard in the game, or at least a likeness of her image as part of Battlegrounds. The image on the left side is from a loading screen for the Royal Rumble match in the game. It featured a muscular woman with outstretched arms kneeling in the ring, similar to the real-life photo of Tessa Blanchard (below).
That led to a photographer by the name of Basil Mahmud taking to Twitter. Mahmud, who lists his current profession as a photographer for Impact Wrestling, mentioned he took the original image and he wanted proper credit for 2K using it.
The original Tessa Blanchard image (from her TNA Impact Wrestling days) appears among photos of other wrestling stars on Mahmud’s Instagram page.
“Hey @WWEgames you wanna tell me why you took my photo without my permission to use it in your game?” Mahmud asked in what appears to be a now-deleted tweet reply.
That drew the attention of plenty of wrestling news and rumors websites as they reported on the Tessa Blanchard story over the past several days.
2K issues patch update to remove likeness
Reportedly, the photographer in question was able to get in contact with WWE 2K Battlegrounds regarding the Tessa Blanchard image. As of Friday evening, Mahmud tweeted that 2K was releasing a patch update that night. That patch was partly to remove Tessa’s likeness from the game.
Mahmud also said he wouldn’t be discussing the matter any further online or doing any podcasts based on it. In addition, he reminded everyone to “Credit your artists.”
There was a WWE 2K Battlegrounds patch update Version 10.40 released on Friday evening. The notes for that particular patch simply say “General bug fixing,” though.
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