It’s a new year, and that means professional wrestling fans who also play video games might be looking forward to a new WWE 2K21 game. Some may simply be hoping to distance themselves from the memory of what WWE 2K20 was. The game was released to the masses in an unfinished state with glitches and issues galore due to the development team situation. It’s expected that a WWE 2K21 will probably arrive later this year, but what sorts of features would be best?
What features & improvements could WWE 2K21 have?
Partway through the development cycle for WWE 2K20, developer Visual Concepts parted ways with longtime developer Yuke’s. Based on a YouTube video from Justin Leeper (a former SmackDown vs. Raw writer) last November, fans shouldn’t expect too many upgrades for the new WWE 2K21 game. That’s due to 2K20’s issues and poor reviews leading to low sales. That translates to a lower budget for the team to develop a new installment.
Still, there are some things that might make things happy if they are part of the 2K21 game.
Better gameplay – This one feels like a must as it’s what will keep gamers coming back. It may end up being the biggest focus of the new game’s development along with the visuals. The glitches and issues that plagued 2K20 need to be polished for a new game. That can go a long way towards making fans happy.
On a Reddit thread, one commenter offered some great examples of what might take gameplay to a better place. That includes “more differentiation between AI opponents,” “more damageable/interactable backstage environments,” and “save and load sliders.” All of these make a ton of sense and should be the basis of development’s main focus.
More customization – Many WWE 2K fans would love to have more creative control over their game experience. That means everything from creating the wrestlers to the arenas, graphics package, signs, weapons, and more. Based on the low budget, it’ll be interesting to see how much of this is available for the new game. That said, the Community Creations have always brought some great stuff, so let’s hope that continues and expands to new levels with 2K21.
New modes and matches?
24/7 Championship mode – This one seems like a no-brainer because it’s been part of WWE since 2K19 was out. While the Community Creations brought a 24/7 Championship belt into the mix, 2K20 doesn’t feature any sort of mode with this title. The 24/7 title can be defended pretty much anytime, anywhere and makes for some interesting situations.
War Games match – Another must, as this has been taking place over the past several years within the NXT program. It involves multiple wrestlers locked in cages up at the top of the ramp. They’re released to go fight in the side-by-side rings with cages around them. Basically, all hell breaks loose in an all-out melee. This would give a new concept for WWE 2K21 to use on the next-gen consoles.
Create a Story/Tower modes – This goes hand-in-hand with what a lot of fans want, and that is more customization options. A Create a Story mode could give fans the creative freedom they want to control how their created superstars or the roster members interact and progress.
Create a Tower mode may be easier to implement. The Tower mode involves battling opponents one-by-one to get to the top. As one Redditor suggested, it would give fans the ability to set up their own Tower ideas with custom rules, match types, and opponents. It seems like a fun idea that would keep fans invested.
When will WWE 2K21 release date be?
We have yet to see any news of a release date for the game, but the past games have come at some time in October. The 2K18 game came out on October 17, 2017. WWE 2K19’s release date was October 9, 2018. The WWE 2K20 game arrived on October 22, 2019.
So that could mean anytime between those dates, although “late October” seems like the smarter choice. That gives the team more time to dedicate to making the best game possible, which is a must to keep and possibly bring back fans of the 2K franchise.
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