Could WWE 2K20 be the next big thing in eSports?

You can’t really escape the eSports wave anymore. It’s everywhere. What was once a niche sport at best is now all over the internet and even on major sports networks like ESPN.

Of course, some of the most popular games on eSports channels include fighting and first-person shooter games.

But one type that doesn’t get a lot of love is the sports genre, and the reasons for that might be obvious but still not necessarily fair. After all, who wants to watch a virtual baseball match when you can watch the real thing?

Still, there are games that straddle multiple genres that could benefit from some eSports exposure and stardom, and we think WWE 2K20 is just such a game.

Sports entertainment the perfect fit for eSports?

While WWE is, in some ways, similar to a traditional sports sim like a Madden game or a FIFA entry, WWE, as an entertainment property, often spans multiple formats and can’t readily be classified as a traditional sport.

That’s not to say that baseball and football don’t have storylines, but few are as involved and constructed as those found in the WWE. And, at its core, WWE 2K games are a type of fighting game. It is just natural that this should be a bigger deal on the eSports circuit than it currently is.

That’s why 2K20 has a lot of potential to change things up in new ways. Coming out at a time when eSports are continually growing in popularity, 2K20 has a golden opportunity to make a name for the brand in the world of competitive video games. Buoyed by the mainline entertainment property and the fans it brings with it, the game could be a titan in the eSports industry. It just has to get the right coordination of fusion of talents together to pull it off.

WWE eSports not likely to lead to market saturation

Then again, some people might not want that for WWE. It’s a pretty storied league and its roots are deep in both television and pay-per-view entertainment. Plus, it prints tons of money without eSports. Yet we don’t think there will be some kind of market saturation if WWE 2K20 hits it big in the eSports arena. Contrary to that, we think it will do really well but it is a combination of bringing the players together and making the game compatible with the format.

A lot of that is up to WWE and the developers themselves. Who knows what makes a popular eSports fighting game but we do know that there are a lot of models out there to follow. And look at what popularity in eSports has done for some titles that were all but dead like Killer Instinct, or the renewed interest people have in Mortal Kombat.

Esports are a vibrant segment of gaming that shouldn’t leave any potential game untested. We just hope that WWE 2K20 has what it takes to make it big in this really competitive industry.