WWE Video Games Revenue Down As A Result Of WWE 2K20's Launch
Sales sank faster than the steel steps did...
Feb 7, 2020
WWE's latest video game, WWE 2K20 had somewhat of a troubled launch when it was released back in October 2019. WWE's latest title suffered from a number of game-breaking bugs and glitches. During matches, the steel steps would often sink underneath the ring, forcing Superstars to crab walk in mid-air, and sometimes wrestlers would be slingshotted from the squared circle as the ropes broke out into a spasm. Even something as simple as the in-game calendar caused 2K20 to become unplayable as we entered the new year.
Now it has been confirmed that the game's troubled launch had an impact on WWE's bottom line as during their
Q4 2019 Results press release, the company reported that their revenue from consumer products declined by two million dollars as a result of "lower video game royalties" from the 2K series.
The press release stated: "Revenues decreased to $30.8 million from $32.8 million in the prior year quarter primarily due to lower video game royalties, which were driven by the Company’s franchise console game WWE 2K20."
While fans would expect WWE and 2K to make a concerted effort to improve with WWE 2K21,
Justin Leeper, a former writer on the SmackDown Vs. Raw Series, explained back in December that 2K was actually cutting developer Visual Concepts' budget for this year's release.