WWE 2K20 is a professional wrestling video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. It was released worldwide on October 22, 2019, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twenty-first installment of the WWE series, the seventh under the WWE 2K banner, and the successor to WWE 2K19. 2K20 is the first game in the series not to be developed by Yuke's, which had developed every entry in the series since its inception in 2000. Visual Concepts, who had previously worked with Yuke's as co-developers since 2014, took over as lead studio for the series.
WWE 2K20 received immense negative reviews, with game critics noting a regression in quality compared to 2K19. The game has since gained notoriety in both the wrestling and gaming communities for its many bugs at launch and other technical issues. In response, 2K would cancel WWE 2K21 and put the series on hiatus for two years, with a spin-off, WWE 2K Battlegrounds, released in 2020, followed by the main series' return with WWE 2K22, which released on March 11, 2022.
Gameplay
Game modes
WWE 2K20s 2K Showcase mode revolves around the Four Horsewomen of WWE (Bayley, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks), from Charlotte VS. Natalya for the NXT Women's Championship at NXT to a triple threat winner takes all match Lynch, Flair and Ronda Rousey for the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships at WrestleMania 35. Players take control of different unique models of Bayley, Banks, Lynch, and Flair, in 15 matches. The 2K Towers mode, first introduced in WWE 2K19, made its return to the series. WWE 2K20 features a female MyCareer story alongside its male story, the first for 2K. (Previous THQ games had female stories) The story is set in April 2029, where Red and Tre were inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame as members of the Class of 2029, which happened before WrestleMania 45 in Las Vegas, Nevada (also known in-game as WrestleMania 2029, as a fictional version of that year's event), 11 years after the end of the WWE 2K19 MyCareer storyline, as in which, the matches follow the perspectives of their career before putting their spots on the line against Samoa Joe and Brooklyn Von Braun at WrestleMania 45 at the end of the story.
The WWE Towers Mode Returned, with one of the towers, known as a "Story Tower", centered around Roman Reigns, with matches with unique commentary from Extreme Rules in 2013, as a member of The Shield, with Seth Rollins, along with Dean Ambrose by their side, against Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane), to Stomping Grounds in 2019, against Drew McIntyre. All matches use the superstars' modern day counterparts and took place at WrestleMania 35.
Release
WWE 2K20 is the first game in the series to be solely developed by Visual Concepts; previous entries were co-developed by Japanese developer Yuke's. Eminem was reported to be curating the soundtrack of the game early in development, but talks with the rapper fell through after the news was leaked before it was made official.
On August 5, 2019, 2K announced WWE 2K20, with a trailer announcing Becky Lynch and Roman Reigns as cover stars. In the trailer, it features various WWE Superstars and Legends attending a party at a huge mansion, before it's interrupted by Lynch crashing through the glass ceiling. Lynch then apologizes to the mansion's owner, who is revealed to be Hulk Hogan. Lynch then turns around to face Reigns, who soon praises her for the scene, before then revealing them as the cover stars and the tagline "Step Inside". This marks the first game in the WWE 2K series to feature a female cover star (most recently, THQ's WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 featured Torrie Wilson on the NTSC cover of the game), and the first game since WWE All Stars to have more than one cover star.
The collector's edition was themed around the 20th anniversary of WWE SmackDown, including a signed card that featured a signed plaque from either Kurt Angle, Edge or Rey Mysterio, and a plaque featuring a piece of the SmackDown 2002–2008 ring mat.