2K now holds the license to produce and distribute WWE video games around the world after they bought the rights from THQ which went bankrupt earlier this year. This will be the first WWE game from 2K and the franchise will adopt the new naming of 2K and the year rather than just previous titles such as WWE ’13.

WWE 2K14 will continue to be developed by Yukes in Japan.

Yukes will continue to develop the game in Japan and the THQ/WWE team who worked on the games before will continue to work on WWE ’14 for 2K.

“The WWE series is a great addition to our stable of triple-A titles, and we’re very happy with this exclusive agreement with our new partners,” said David Ismailer, Chief Operating Officer for 2K. “We look forward to capturing the excitement of WWE and marrying it with the same commitment to authenticity and entertainment that we give to our NBA 2K and MLB 2K franchises.”

2K is the team behind the popular NBA 2K series and Greg Thomas, Executive Vice President of 2K Sports, said that combining their background in developing the NBA game with the WWE franchise will result in the most authentic WWE video game experience on game consoles.

Court documents filed yesterday revealed that the agreement between THQ and Take-Two will save the company millions in bankruptcy claims.

Yuke’s, which develops the WWE video games for THQ, will continue working with WWE and Take-Two in a new agreement which will also see the makers of the “Grand Theft Auto” franchise take over the THQ employees that worked on the WWE video games.

As part of the deal, WWE has agreed to waive its pre-bankruptcy claim of $45 million and royalty advances of $7.5 million. THQ will now pay WWE $650,000 in royalty payments for the games sold while under bankruptcy protection.

Yuke’s 14% equity have been returned by THQ – valued at $4.5 million – in exchange of pre-bankruptcy claims waiver. The video game developers will also get $250,000 in royalties.

If the story checks out to be true, the sports arm of Take-Two, 2K Sports, will most likely be publishing the WWE ’14 video game.

Alan Lewis, Vice President of Corporate Communications & Public Affairs at Take-Two Interactive Software chose not to comment about the rumors when we contacted Take-Two today.

“We do not comment on rumors and speculation,” Lewis wrote in an e-mail.

The sale of the WWE video game license is believed to have been separate from the auction that was held on January 22 to dissolve the THQ assets.

“If you are an employee of an entity that is not included in the sale, we regret that your position will end,” said the letter.

Different companies have acquired different assets of THQ, which filed for bankruptcy last year. The assets were sold yesterday in an auction and attracted companies such as SEGA, Take-Two, Ubisoft and others.

One thing which still there’s no news on is the WWE license. WWE is owed around $45 million as a creditor and is the single most valuable license that THQ was in possession of.  The future home for WWE video games has yet to be disclosed and it’s not known if it was sold during the auction or will be sold separately.

WWE issued a small statement saying that they are following the developments of THQ’s bankruptcy filing and proposed sale.

THQ has held the license of WWE for video games for around a decade and the WWE games have been some of the best selling for the company. At one point they also held the UFC license which recently was sold to their competitors Electronic Arts.

Let me take you back to earlier this year… remember when all of those promos were airing on Raw and SmackDown, promising a revolution? The internet was abuzz with rumors of what the promos were for – the most believed one was the return of Matt Morgan (how did that work out for you?) – as the internet salivated over what was coming up. Then, we found out that it was a trailer for the new video game. Disappointing? That seems to be the perfect analogy for what ended up being WWE 13.

If you’ve read almost any other review of the game, you’ll have doubtless seen plenty of praise for THQ’s latest release, labeling it as the best wrestling game since the holy grail that is No Mercy. On the surface, they’re right, but once you’ve spent any time playing it, you’ll quickly start wishing for an HD update of No Mercy.

Having played every WWE game since the dawn of time (well, not quite), WWE 13 has the usual updates you’d expect. The graphics are a little shinier, the sets updated (although the new Raw and SmackDown sets didn’t make it this year), and the centerpiece of this year’s game is the Attitude Era Mode. Replacing the Road to WrestleMania feature, the Attitude Era Mode is WWE 13′s core feature, as you re-enact different scenarios from throughout the late 90s. Want to relive the reformation and the rise of the original D-Generation X? How about the genesis of Austin 3;16? Or perhaps you want to relive WrestleMania XV?

Lurking into the Attitude Era mode, you get to replay a variety of matches, with the key being that you meet several objectives to relive history. For instance, an early match between Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog needs you to have HBK beat the Bulldog, but you get extra bonus points depending on what you do during the match, so as to accurately represent what really happened.

The core gameplay remains the same – left thumbstick moves your wrestler, whilst the face control pad’s face buttons allow you to strike, grapple, hit a finisher or whip your opponent. If you’ve played any WWE games in the last five years, you’ll be in familiar territory, and whilst it is a case of “if it ain’t broke”, the control pattern is starting to feel dated by now.

If you don’t want to follow the usual career mode, then you’re in luck as WWE Universe mode returns for another year, allowing you to create an alternate universe (ahem) where you can control what happens on Raw, SmackDown, and any show you want to create. Among the improvements this year is the ability to add a show on every day of the week – so if you want to create Saturday Morning Slam, have at it. Want to have WWE Main Event on Wednesday? Be our guest… Tuesday Night Titans? Go on then. Heck, if you want to ditch Raw and replace it with Nitro, you can do that too, however, you’ll have to create your own Nitro arena, as the WCW-inspired arenas that graced WWE 12 did not make the trek into this year’s game.

Of course, modern day wrestling games would fall flat on their face without a good create a wrestler mode. No matter how many guys you have on the roster, there’s always someone that will be missing. With the inclusion of the Attitude era wrestlers, WWE 13 boasts the biggest roster in history (bulked out with three HHH’s, two Undertakers, two Kanes, three Mick Foleys, and so on), but still manages to omit several fringe wrestlers, with Drew McIntyre, Ryback and Damien Sandow relegated to downloadable character status, whilst Tyson Kidd fails to make the cut entirely.

Thankfully, the godawful servers that ruined WWE 12′s online experience appear to be fixed, so downloading new characters and wrestlers is not the thankless chore that it was. Unfortunately, as one bug is fixed, several more seem to have reared their ugly heads. To make things clear, I’m playing the PlayStation 3 version of this game – most reviews seem to have been based off of the Xbox 360 edition. Normally, that wouldn’t be an issue, especially as these games are usually copies of one another (WWE 13 is initially written for the Xbox, before being ported down to the PS3 and other platforms), however this year, THQ seem to have only done quality testing on the Xbox version.

Case in point: on launch day (and as of time of writing) although you can create your own arena, you cannot use it in Universe mode on the PS3, whilst some PS3 owners have reported not being able to use a custom arena anywhere in the game. Which really makes the expanded create-an-arena mode pointless – what’s the point in being able to use the classic SmackDown fist as a base for an arena if it’s just going to crash your game?

Other annoying glitches include the computer getting stuck in animations that are unbreakable – whether it’s Sin Cara freezing when trying to somersault out of the ring, or the CPU taking forever trying to eliminate a wrestler in the Royal Rumble. They’re random, they’re annoying, and they really should have been caught in beta testing. Speaking of the Royal Rumble, I stumbled onto a classic Rumble PPV in my Universe mode where I had no choice but have a 20 man Rumble, in the old Rumble PPV arena, with a silent crowd and minimal commentary. It was nice, at least, until the CPU got stuck in an animation loop and I had to skip the match entirely.

In summary, WWE 13 is a game that just isn’t quite finished. It has all of the hallmarks of a game that would easily be the best wrestling game of this console generation, but if you own a PS3, I cannot honestly recommend this game until it has been patched. Xbox 360 owners, by all means, grab this game – you’ll enjoy it – but you too will wish that THQ had spent more time ironing out those annoying glitches.

The biggest sell of the game this year is the first single player campaign based on the Attitude Era which replaces the Road to WrestleMania campaign which was found in earlier games.

“WWE ’13 delivers an unparalleled experience unlike any to date in the franchise through its diverse, extensive feature set and relentless pursuit of authenticity,” said Sean Ratcliffe, Vice President, Global Brand Management, THQ. “The incredible offerings in ‘Attitude Era’ Mode, traditional match play and the franchise’s unrivaled Creation Suite, combined with the largest roster ever delivered in a WWE videogame, are certain to have significant appeal to a wide array of consumers.”

The game will have 51 modern era WWE Superstars and Divas as well as an additional 35 from the Attitude era.

The full list of modern era characters include: Alberto Del Rio, Big Show, Booker T, Brock Lesnar, Brodus Clay, Chris Jericho, Christian, Cody Rhodes, Daniel Bryan, David Otunga, Dolph Ziggler, Edge, The Great Khali, Heath Slater, Hunico, Jack Swagger, JBL, John Cena (The Doctor of Thuganomics), John Laurinaitis, Justin Gabriel, Kane, Kevin Nash, Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry, The Miz, Primo, Randy Orton, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, The Rock, R-Truth, Santino Marella, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Epico, Ted DiBiase, Triple H, The Undertaker, Jinder Mahal, Wade Barrett, Zack Ryder, Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix, Brie Bella, Eve, Kelly Kelly, Kharma, Nikki Bella, Lita, AJ Lee (RAW General Manager), and CM Punk.

Attitude Era characters include: Road Warrior Animal, Big Boss Man, Billy Gunn, Bradshaw (APA), Bret Hart, British Bulldog, Cactus Jack, Chris Jericho (Y2J), Christian (Edge & Christian), Dude Love, Eddie Guerrero, Edge (Edge & Christian), Faarooq (APA), The Godfather, Road Warrior Hawk, Hunter Heart Helmsley, Kane, Ken Shamrock, Mankind, Mark Henry (Nation of Domination), Mike Tyson, Mr. McMahon, “The Big Show” Paul Wight, Road Dogg Jesse James, The Rock, Shane McMahon, Shawn Michaels (D-Generation X), Triple H (D-Generation X), The Undertaker (The Lord of Darkness), Vader, X-Pac, Lita (Attitude Era), Stephanie McMahon (The Billion Dollar Princess), Trish Stratus, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin,

IGN.COM and WWE.COM will simultaneously stream the festivities as the largest ever roster in a WWE video game is unveiled to the public. The event will start at 2:00PM PT and will take place at the NOKIA Plaza at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles.

The event will feature IGN’s Richard George, as well as two members of the WWE Games development team, Creative Director Cory Ledesma and Senior Game Designer Bryan Williams.

WWE Hall of Famers Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler along with WWE champion CM Punk and ring announcer Lillian Garcia will help unveiling the roster.