As most people will already know by now, THQ’s and Yuke’s annual WWE gaming franchise has come to an end with THQ’s bankruptcy. What will become of WWE ’14?
It was rumored that the WWE Games franchise was not a part of the THQ auction because WWE cancelled its contract with THQ the minute it realized the company went bankrupt. It was reported that WWE Chairman Vince McMahon “blew a gasket” upon hearing of THQ’s bankruptcy. This is because THQ still owed WWE $45 million. This is a lot of money that McMahon is unlikely to ever get back.
Since the WWE Games franchise was not a part of the THQ auction, no other game publisher was able to bid on it. That is until “an anonymous source” told IGN that the franchise was bought off by Take Two. A week has gone by since that report and no official news has been revealed since then.
The only clue we have is that the WWE Games franchise will continue to still be made. This message is from the WWEGames Facebook page: “We don’t have any details to share yet, but there WILL continue to be WWE Games. Stay tuned for more information and some exciting news!”
If Take Two did indeed purchase the franchise, will it start the series from scratch or will it continue with the work that Yuke’s had been doing for WWE ’14? Before THQ went bankrupt, work was already underway for WWE ’14 and the game was set to be released later this year. Now all of this is uncertain thanks to THQ’s bankruptcy.
From a fan’s point of view, some will want to see the series ACTUALLY rebooted. WWE ’12 was the supposed reboot of the franchise but it really wasn’t. The only thing that changed was the control scheme but it still had the same moves, commentary and graphics engine as the previous Smackdown vs. Raw games…
If Take Two decides to make the next WWE game, it’s likely they’ll use one of its own developers. If WWE ’14 is to become WWE 2K14 instead, I’m sure some fans won’t mind the change. Still, if a new developer is to make a WWE game from scratch, it’s unlikely the game will be released later this year. This might come as bad news for McMahon once again since the WWE earns quite a bit of revenue from selling video games each year.
Would you like to see WWE ’14 out this year or wait until Take Two can develop its own WWE 2K series?
TheFutureShock
February 1, 2013 at 6:03 PMMr McMahon did not “blow a gasket”. There is a report on WWE’s corporate page that clearly states that WWE do not feel that they will be affected by THQ’s bankruptcy, and that the $40+ they are owed will not affect them.
http://corporate.wwe.com/news/2012/2012_12_20-.jsp
Damian Antony Seeto
February 1, 2013 at 6:11 PMthanks for the additional info. I did not know about that. Still, how come the WWE license was not up for auction like the rest of the games? WWE must have cancelled its agreement with THQ weeks before the auction took place in January. I’m sure deep down, McMahon is still upset about it would you agree?
Mike
February 2, 2013 at 10:05 PMI think that a game should be released this year. I also can’t wait to see what take two does with the wwe brand, if it’s anything like the NBA franchise than the game is going to be awesome. If 2k does indeed take over I’m hoping for realer graphics, a my superstar mode, a my player mode, a dynasty mode where you can play through years of wrestling and the older the wrestler gets the greater chance if him retiring and they have where new wrestlers are introduced and they du the hof during wrestlemania weekend. I want every match type that has ever been in wwe as well as the ability to use the king of the ring in the franchise or universe mode. I hope that they also update the roster whenever a new wrestler debuts.
HeathDavid
February 2, 2013 at 11:34 PMWWE 13 – Same old as WWE 12, with the exception of Attitude Era!
Attitude Era – 8.5/10 rating! Would’ve been better if it wasn’t for the chapters being synchronized.
Universe 3.0 – 6/10 rating! Lacks improvement.
Story Designer – 5/10 rating! Too glitchy, boring, and brings nothing new to the table.
Gameplay – 7/10 rating! Nothing really changes in gameplay other than fewer moves, and a new limb target system.
Commentary – 4/10!
Graphics – 8/10 – Nice arena graphics, but odd character models, and no camera men present at ringside!
Overall – 8/10 rating! Good Attitude Era mode, decent graphics, and a decent gameplay experience! Enjoy the first month and a half of it, afterwards you’ll get bored of it.
Treestumps54
February 3, 2013 at 2:44 PMWWE 13-worst game than WWE’12..
Attitude Area-6.5/10 rating.. Too many duplicate wrestlers instead of alt. attire and having more room for other attitude wrestlers
Universe 3.0 Mode-8/10 rating.. A big step improvements were made but still can be improved more
Story Designer-3/10 rating.. Too many glitches and needs alot of improvement exp: better storylines..
Gameplay-6/10 rating.. Fewer moves that should have never been removed but the controls stayed the same witch is a plus…
Commentary-5/10
Arena Graphics-9/10
Wrestlers Graphics-2/10 rating.. Bring back the graphics for wrestlers from SvR 2008 if you have too..
Overall-4/10 Needs alot of improvements, WWE’13 worst game in WWE games!!