In the world of video games, World Wrestling Entertainment has been a constant presence since the release of MicroLeague Wrestling on the Commodore 64 in 1987. In the 2000s, WWE games became an annual affair, just like any other sports game, with each new iteration of the main series – now known as WWE 2K — Providing players with an updated list of competitors and some new innovations, for better or worse.
The 2010s were a particularly interesting time for WWE games, as the series has seen some changes and some nice additions over the years, as well as an outright disaster. Now that the decade is over, let’s take a look at what fans need to know about the WWE video games of the 2010s.
10 The series changed name in 2012
With the year 2004 came the release of SmackDown vs. raw, WWE’s premier video game series. Named to reflect the brand split that gave Raw and SmackDownshow-exclusive grids, SmackDown vs. raw was an annual event for players and proved to be quite popular. In 2011, WWE ended the brand split, and so the video game series had to be renamed. SmackDown vs. raw 2011, which came out in October 2010, was the last game to bear that name, and the following games were simply named: WWE ’12 and WWE ’13.
9 Switched to 2K games from THQ
Since 1999, WWE games have been published by California-based THQ, including not only the entire SmackDown vs. raw series, but also the Nintendo 64 classic WWF No mercy. WWE ’13 was the last of the WWE games to be released by THQ, as the company unfortunately filed for bankruptcy in 2012. From there, 2K Sports – owned by Take Two Interactive – acquired the license to make WWE video games, giving the games a name annual variation on WWE 2K. The games themselves were still made by the Japanese developer Yuke’s, so the quality remained fairly constant.
8 WWE All Stars deviates from the format
Among the WWE games of the 2010s is an odd little outlier. Released in 2011 on multiple platforms including PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and even portable systems, WWE All Stars offered a different kind of wrestling game than the norm.
Rather than trying to simulate pro wrestling as accurately as possible like the main series, WWE All Stars opted for an over the top arcade fighting game approach to pro wrestling. Plus, the roster features a healthy number of legendary talent in addition to current WWE stars – fitting given the name of the game.
7 The canceled online game
In 2011, WWE and THQ tried to get on the online PC gaming train with a free-to-play game intended to SmackDown vs. Raw Online to display the current main sequence name. Developed by South Korean Vertigo Games specifically for the Korean PC gaming market, SmackDown vs. Raw Online players would have had to play online and to trade items. Although some trailers were made for E3, unfortunately fans wouldn’t be able to see how the game comes to fruition as THQ canceled it in 2011.
6 Nostalgia Modes
WWE spent much of the 2010s milking nostalgia for old wrestling with “WWE Legends” performances, and the video games were no different. The rosters for many WWE games have been tough on retired legends, including not only icons like Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin, but also random inclusions like Virgil and Colonel Robert Parker. Several games from this era have story modes that allow fans to recreate matches and even specific moments from the past, with WWE ’13 focus on the Attitude era while WWE 2K14 immersed in the history of WrestlingMania.
5 2K showcase
Starting with WWE 2K15, the WWE 2K games had a mode called 2K Showcase, a story mode where players battled through previous wrestling storylines, but weren’t always committed to long-lived classics. While 2K15’s Showcase covered the CM Punk/John Cena rivalry and the Triple H/Shawn Michaels rivalry, other games spanned entire careers, with 2K16 focusing on Steve Austin or 2K19 on Daniel Bryan. Then there’s the controversial (see below) WWE 2K20who delved into recent history by focusing on the rise of the Four Horsewomen or NXT.
4 My career
In addition to the nostalgic single-player story modes, WWE 2K games also have a single-player mode called MyCareer, which debuted with WWE 2K15. Instead of playing as a WWE star of the past, players here use the Create-a-character feature to build their own wrestler and progress through a fictional WWE career, going from the Performance Center all the way to WrestlingMania and even a retirement contest.
The next games in the series have expanded into MyCareer mode, making it quite a complicated affair where a player’s choices – not just winning and losing matches, but also matches and interactions with other wrestlers – affect how the story takes place.
3 Original stories
With more recent interactions of the series — in particular 2K20 – the WWE 2K games increasingly contain original stories in addition to the nostalgic simulator aspect of the games. WWE 2K20 includes an exclusive MyCareer story mode for women set in the near future, but the game also included DLC expansions for the game called “WWE 2K Originals”, which include new story modes and special items, arenas and costumes. There were four in total: a post-apocalyptic story, a horror story, a futuristic story, and one based on Southpaw Regional Wrestling.
2 WWE 2K19 was Yuke’s swan song
Beginning in 2000, WWE’s major games were produced by Japanese developer Yuke’s, the 2000 PlayStation game SmackDown! and go to the SmackDown vs. raw series and into the 2010s. However, WWE 2K19 was the last game Yuke’s would develop under the WWE license, with 2K20 is handled by another developer, Visual Concepts, who had worked with Yuke’s on previous WWE games. After nearly two decades of WWE games, Yuke’s went out with a bang, like WWE 2K19 was one of the best-received games in the series and looked even better for fans given the game that followed.
1 WWE 2K20 was a disaster
Released in October 2019, WWE 2K20 could have been worse. The developer change didn’t bode well, and fan expectations were met by one of video game’s most high-profile failures in recent years. The game itself was considered a weak sequel to the beloved WWE 2K19, with worse graphics, worse gameplay, and missing many of the innovations fans had become accustomed to in the Yuke era. Plus, when it came out, the thing barely functioned as it was plagued with bugs and glitches.
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