Take-Two Interactive has officially announced that WWE 14 will be headed to consoles this fall.
The rights to the WWE franchise were previously held by the folks at THQ . However, the company’s recent bankruptcy forced them to sell off its assets. According to Joystiq , THQ and WWE held a private bidding for the license.
Take-Two has acquired the rights to make WWE-related video games for the next five years. Casey Collins, executive vice president of consumer products for WWE, said the company was impressed with Take-Two’s work on the NBA 2K franchise.
Collins told ESPN :
“We looked at a lot of different leaders in the industry and talked to all of the big guys, and for us, we had been with THQ for so many years, it was nice to finally go out and date a few other companies and see what kind of thought process they had about the video game industry going forward.”
He added:
“The work they do, and the quality of the games they put out and how they’ve been able to grow their franchise with not only the simulation aspect of the game, but also the entertainment aspect, we thought they’d be a perfect partner.”
Although the website originally reported that Take-Two Interactive intended to re-brand the series to tie in with the 2K line, Polygon explains this isn’t the case. Instead of WWE 2K14 , the game will be known as simply WWE ’14 .
A specific release date for the wrestling title has yet to be announced by the company. Take-Two is also remaining tight-lipped about which platforms the game will be released for this fall. However, it’s being reported that Yuke’s will continue working on the upcoming title.
Are you a fan of the WWE video games? Do you think Take-Two Interactive is the right fit for WWE ’14 ?