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#2 The annual production schedule
Video games take a long time to produce. Oh, did you... did you not know that? Yeah, cranking out a game as big as one of the WWE 2K games takes a lot of people doing a lot of work.
Let's put it this way - if you were trying to put out a game as big as WWE 2K20 without using any previous assets from other games, and you were told to get it done in a year - you'd probably go and find another job. That's insane.
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atario 2600 was designed by one guy in six weeks and we saw how that turned out.
It's understandable that both WWE and 2K want an annual branded wrestling game to release; every major sports league does it. I mean, with their own sport. The NFL isn't putting out a wrestling game. (Although how crazy would that be?).
Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked.
If the rumors about the WWE 2K series taking a year off are true, I for one would be genuinely excited to see what Visual Concepts is able to do with that extra time. I may even write a piece on it, who knows?
#1 A great new DLC concept (that wasn't executed very well)
To their credit, 2K and Visual Concepts tried something new for this edition's inevitable DLC editions. Instead of the usual new wrestlers added to the roster, they went with four new scenarios they called "2K Originals." Rather than brand new roster members, 2K added different themes of existing ones.
For example, the very first Originals back was Holloween/horror based, and players got spooky versions of Braun Strowman, Aleister Black and Sheamus (in a hilarious tribute to Shaun of the Dead), as well as Bray Wyatt's "Fiend" persona.
The idea had merit, and was a nice change of pace from the usual. In fact, it was probably the most creative concept for a wrestling game DLC ever. If pulled off, it could have more than made up for the shortcomings of the rest of the game - everything we've talked about before.
Unfortunately though, it wasn't enough to do that. The text-and-still-drawing presentation of the stories each Original release was trying to tell just wasn't enough to engage fans. Nor were the alternate versions of wrestlers as opposed to new additions to the roster.
Yes, a hacker version of Asuka or all new Southpaw Regional Wrestling characters were cool... but were they enough to get fans interested? Sadly, no.
Which is a shame because these DLC packs were a lot of fun. And hopefully 2K Games can keep this concept and work with it for whatever their next game is, because it was a great idea.
