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2K have removed four WWE games from SteamOnly the tag team of WWE 2K22 and 2K Battlegrounds left standing
Only the tag team of WWE 2K22 and 2K Battlegrounds left standing
WWE 2K22 - You’ve Got First!WWE 2K22 seems to have been a return to form for the digital wrestling franchise.Watch on YouTube
WWE 2K22 - You’ve Got First!
I haven’t played a wrestling game since 2002’s fair to middling WWE Wrestlemania X8 on the GameCube, so I can’t say I immediately noticed the absence of WWE 2K20, 2K19, 2K18 and 2K17 from Valve’s storefront. Redditor Popstasia eventually did though, and posted their findings to the pcgamingsubreddit. You can see the desolation on Steam for yourselfhere. The removal of the WWE games from sale seems to have taken place on July 14th, which maps with data fromSteam Tracker.
Some of 2K’s previous entries in the WWE series do still have Steam store pages, but they’re marked with a now familiar and slightly deflating note: “At the request of the publisher, WWE 2K17 is no longer available for sale on Steam.” The games appear to have been removed from sale on the Xbox and PlayStation storefronts too. Given that WWE games have licensed soundtracks, it’s entirely possible that the licenses are expiring and this has prompted the takedown - similar to how the PC version of Remedy’sAlan Wakewastaken off saleback in 2017 due to its lapsed music rights.
2K took a year off from releasing their annual wrestlefest in 2020 after thedisastrously buggylaunch of WWE 2K20. They did get round topatching it, though. 2K don’t seem to have been getting any rumblings ready about when we’ll seeWWE 2K23yet, although there wererumoursearlier this year that WWE had approached EA about taking over the licence.
I’ve reached out to 2K for comment on why these wrestling games have been taken down, and I’ll update this post when I hear back. In the meantime, please don’t try to supplex me if you spot me in the street. Leave it for the ring.
