Following the intense backlash that WWE 2K20 saw due to it being a glitchy mess, the team over at 2K Games decided to pull a Ubisoft and take a  breather from annual releases. While the current two games are still receiving support, many have reported a WWE 2K19 server shutdown message that has them concerned and seems to belay an earlier statement made by the studio. With 2K previously mentioning that the server would remain active, what does the most recent shutdown message mean? 2K Games is here to clarify. 

WWE 2K19 Server Shutdown Message Update

The current message that WWE 2K19 players have been seeing is that the servers would be shut down on May 31, later this month. As the number of players reported this message and aired their concerns on social media, 2K took to Twitter to confirm that they aren’t touching the servers and that they will stay open “for the foreseeable future.” 

Please disregard the in-game message stating that the WWE 2K19 servers are coming down on May 31. They will remain open for the foreseeable future.

— #WWE2K20 (@WWEgames) May 4, 2020

Between the game-breaking bugs that 2K20 saw – and continued to see long after launch – and the recent WWE 2K Battlegrounds reveal, the wrestling side of the gaming community has been in the middle of a pretty intense upset. The game was downright unplayable when it first launched with graphics and mechanics that left little to be desired. When Battlegrounds was announced, many fans took to social media to let the studio know that they felt betrayed and that it was too soon to be pivoting after such a colossal controversy over 2K20. 

While Battlegrounds aims for a different target audience with its T-rating and more cartoonish graphics, the future of WWE 2K is a little up in the air. While the team isn’t abandoning this franchise, it will be interesting to see what they do with their break from the annual crunch. Ubisoft saw great success with this following their hiatus from Assassin’s Creed and with that break came two back-to-back hits with Odyssey being hailed as the “comeback” the franchise needed that was hovering on the edge of obsolete.