Take-Two grabs WWE franchise from defunct THQ

Take-Two is set to gain control over the WWE video game license, following THQ’s bankruptcy.

The WWE games will continue to developed by Japanese studio Yuke’s, with Take-Two now handling the publishing rights.

“We can confirm that we have entered into an agreement to publish the WWE video game series that is developed by Yukes [sic]. At this time, the agreement is pending court approval and we anticipate that it will be finalized shortly. We are very excited about the potential of this agreement and will have more to share at the appropriate time,” said Take-Two in a statement provided to Polygon.

Take-Two will hire THQ’s WWE game production staff of about 20 employees, and form new agreements with WWE and Yuke’s to produce future WWE games.

This means that WWE could be added to the 2K Sports roster, which thanks to their supervision, has been praised for producing some high-quality titles, such as the NBA2K series.

THQ’s IPs, which includes some big-name hitters, such as the Darksiders, Saints Row and Metro licenses, were auctioned off to the highest bidders. Ubisoft and Crytek were among the companies who acquired the publishing rights.