Summary
2K will soon be shutting downWWE 2K22servers, thus ending all online services for the 18-month-old game, the company said. The surprise announcement agitated someWWE 2Kfans, who have promptly taken to social media to criticize the decision.
Originally released in March 2022,WWE 2K22debuted to largely favorable reviews and a positive reception from the fandom. Much like every mainline installment sinceWWE 2K20, it was developed by Visual Concepts. 2K’s California-based subsidiary already had half a dozenWWEprojects under its belt as the co-developer assisting Japanese studio Yuke’s by the time it was handed the reins of the franchise.
And while the studio is currently hard at work developingWWE 2K24, it would appear that some of those efforts will come at the expense of the 2022 entry in the franchise, which will no longer have online support come early next year. Specifically, 2K revealed thatWWE 2K22servers will be shut down on May 11, 2025. “Now is the perfect time to upgrade,” the company wrote on Twitter, with that suggestion arriving mere weeks after the 18-month anniversary oftheWWE 2K22release.
When Are the WWE 2K22 Servers Shutting Down?
A vocal portion of the series' fandom was taken aback with this turn of events, swiftly taking to social media to criticize the decision. One fan thus characterized the server shutdown as a “garbage move,” while multiple others bemoaned the incoming forced migration toWWE 2K23, opining that the newer game offers a worse online multiplayer experience than its predecessor. The total number of people that are still regularly playingWWE 2K22and are hence directly affected by this incoming sunsetting is unclear.
That notwithstanding, there is no doubt that the game itself was a massive hit for 2K; aside from revealingyet anotherGTA 5sales milestone, Take-Two Interactive’s quarterly earnings report from August 2022 saw the gaming giant reveal thatWWE 2K22had the best launch month of any franchise entry in the United States, the series' core market. Earlier that year, Games Sales Data reported thatWWE 2K22debuted as the second-best selling title in the United Kingdom, overtaking heavy-hitters likeGran Turismo 7andFIFA 22, all the while more than doubling the British launch sales of its immediate predecessor.
While this move is far from unprecedented, it would appear that the lifecycles ofWWE 2Kgames are getting substantially shorter. As a reminder,WWE 2K20servers shut down after 26 months, whileWWE 2K19’s online modes remained playable for nearly four years. 2K discontinued multiplayer services for both of those titles in May 2022.
WWE 2K22is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:WWE 2K24: Why Rhea Ripley Should Be the First to Break a Few Major WWE 2K Traditions
