Report: WWE Wrestlers Receiving Big Bonuses From 2K Battlegrounds Game
A tidy bonus for underpaid independent contractors.
The recently-released WWE 2K Battlegrounds video game appears to have brought paydays for some of the featured wrestlers.
Per Fightful Select, one talent has claimed that they're going to receive a bonus of $35,000 for their appearance in the game. A healthy number, particularly as 2K Battlegrounds isn't projected to sell as well as the mainline 2K series, though WWE's gaming paydays aren't as lucrative as they once were.
The bonus system isn't straightforward, however, as some wrestlers featured as bonus DLC content have been told they aren't eligible for the extra money because they lack main roster contracts.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds was released to mixed reviews on 18 September. A more cartoonish, straightforward WWE game than fans have become used to in recent years, it was perhaps a response to the disastrous WWE 2K20, which suffered from one of the most shambolic launches in recent history. A sloppy, bug-ridden mess, 2K20 was so derided that it resulted in the planned 2K21 game's cancellation, with 2K Sports combining with developers Saber Interactive to create Battlegrounds instead.
Check out WhatCulture's review of the game here: WWE 2K Battlegrounds Review: 4 Ups & 4 Downs.