2K has once again quietly delisted old WWE games from digital storefronts, sparking a minor outcry - although this is standard operating procedure for the 2K sports line.
Over the weekend, a user on the PC Gaming subreddit (via PC Gamer) noted that several older WWE games, including 2K17, 2K18, 2K19, and 2K20 had all recently been removed from Steam. Steam-tracker shows that all four of these games were removed from sale on July 13.
These games have also gone missing from the Xbox and PlayStation stores. If you search for them either in your browser or on the consoles themselves, your results will come up empty. DLC has been delisted, too, though for now WWE 2K20's Backstage Pass is still available on the PlayStation Store. Otherwise, your only digital options are WWE 2K22 and WWE 2K Battlegrounds.
2K announced a "server sunset" on June 30, 2022 for games like 2K20 in a series of support articles, mentioning that "you will no longer be able to access any online game mode after this point, however if you already own the game you will be able to continue to play offline modes." There was no clear indication of the planned delisting, however.
Other 2K sports games have similarly been delisted after launch, but their support articles are much clearer about what was set to happen. For NBA 2K20, the publisher said that "as of January 1st, 2022 this game will no longer be available for purchase."
In all cases, you can still download these games if you'd previously purchased them, though you might be disappointed by the lack of DLC purchase options if you're hopping back into an older title.
The delistings are perhaps less notable on consoles, where physical copies of these games are readily available, but with the Steam versions removed from purchase, PC players no longer have any legal means of getting access to the sports (or sports entertainment) they're looking for.
A WWE-branded wrestling RPG is in the works, if you need a break from all those 2K simulations.
