2K's Past and Future
There is a lot to look forward to in 2020, two new consoles are on the horizon, which means new titles for them, but as we get to the tail end of the two they are replacing, games are getting bigger and bolder, as developers have learnt how to leverage all the power and technical know-how from them, to craft worlds the demand to be enjoyed. So, let’s take a look at what we have to look forward to for 2020 from 2K.
Each year sees a few titles ship from 2K, NBA and WWE and then they pad out each year with a few extra titles, sometimes they are big, other times little, but that has been their standard practice for a while and 2019 didn’t change that.
Of course, you can’t talk about 2019 and not talk about Borderlands 3, the series returned with a massive bang, drawing in players on all platforms and quickly becoming a major game for those seeking either a massive adventure or place to just have fun with mates. Gearbox managed to up the ante on almost every facet of the previous games, from locations, to character and of course guns, though a risk for the studio, it was a safe one, given the reverence that some have for the series.
The original Borderlands also saw a re-release early in the year, coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 for the first time, with the PC release scoring a free visual upgrade pack. In fact it was upgrade packs for all, as The Handsome Collection, which featured Borderlands 2 and Borderlands The Pre-Sequel both scored higher res packs, making all three titles look even better, before a piece of all new DLC was released for Borderland 2, which lead into 3, which came out a few months later, in all 2019 was a great year to be a Borderlands fan.
Outside of the shlooter genre, NBA 2K20 once again stood as the pinnacle of basketball games, replacing 2K19 and while there were no major innovations in the series, each addition improved on many core aspects of the game. There is little more to be said about the game, it sold a ton and was well received by critics and fans a like, Visual Concepts, the studio behind the series can clearly do no wrong, or you might think.
2019 was the year that WWE 2K20 released and for the first time in forever, the title was not developed by Yukes. The studio had been the lead developer on the series for quite some time, with Visual Concepts acting as support, now I have no idea why they ran on their own this year, but the game released as a hot mess and some important patches were pushed out as soon as they could be, there was a complete lack interest. Was it a question of the studio being unable to work on two major series at once, or just a lack of understanding on the WWE series, honesty who knows.
We also saw new content arrive for Civilization VI at the start of the year, with the title then making the jump to Switch in the middle of the year, complete with cross save play. But that was only the base game, no expansions were included and when asked, there were no plans for them, but that changed in November. Both expansions came to Switch, while the game and expansions came to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, does this mean Civ 7 will now arrive on all platforms at once, doubtful, but it is nice to see the series moving onto other platforms.
2020 is going to be an odd year for 2K, we have the expected releases of NBA 2K21 and WWE 2K21 to come, with the latter not being 100% possible, but that is all we know. It was late in 2019 when 2K announced that they were starting up a new studio, with the sole purpose of creating new Bioshock titles, but that is going to be a ways off yet.
Borderlands 3 is going to keep the content coming, we have one pack so far, but more are expected throughout the year, it is just a matter of when they come now as the dates are not fixed, even if the amount is, Gearbox have been doing good work with the series before and the amount of DLC coming, so expect that to continue in 2020.
It has been a while since Mafia 3 released and Hangar 13 the studio that brought the title to life, have been quiet since the DLC wrapped up for it, is 2020 the right year for them to bring something to market, potentially. As I said the studio has been quiet, with nary a whisper of what they are working on but given the relationship that 2K have with release schedules, it would not surprise me to see more from the developer this year.
Another developer that has been quiet, compared to normal is Firaxis, as the studio behind both Civilization and XCOM, they have not released a major title in a while and given that Civ 6 was the most recent full release, one could assume that XCOM would be next, if they keep rotating things through. Is the world ready for more turn based tactical action, I believe so, it just depends on if they are working on that, or something else entirely new.
2K might not release as many games as other publishers, and apart from WWE 2K20, the argument could be made that they go for quality over quantity, if that carries across to 2020 is something we need to wait and see about, but past experience points to yes.
