2K is facing community backlash following its decision to ban a popular creator from WWE 2K24.
On April 22nd, creator “WhatsTheStatus”, who is known for uploading content that is normally inaccessible to players, told X that all of his uploads, representing dozens of wrestlers and other content, would be removed from the game without warning. announced that it had been done. .
The next day, he was permanently banned from playing the game online, lost all access to community works features, and claimed he had no option to appeal.
A message that WhatsTheStatus allegedly saw when he logged into the game read, “You have recently been alerted that this account is associated with inappropriate content.” “This is a violation of the End User License Agreement that all players agree to before accessing WWE 2K24's online features.”
When asked to explain the suspension, a 2K spokesperson told VGC, “The player in question has been suspended indefinitely for violating the rules.
“Mods that negatively impact the gaming experience of other players are a violation of our terms. Our primary concern is providing a positive WWE 2K24 experience for all players.”
It's not clear exactly what content was deemed a violation of 2K's terms, but WhatsTheStatus does include content that is normally inaccessible to players, such as hidden models of certain wrestlers or characters that appear in the game but are not playable. It is known for uploading content. As an in-game commentator.
In particular, WWE 2K24 uploaded versions of every female wrestler in the game, allowing them to wrestle male wrestlers that are not allowed in the standard game.
Due to its reputation for uploading this type of content, WhatsTheStatus gained many fans in the WWE gaming community. Following his ban, many players expressed their anger at 2K.
“Free status” briefly became a trend in the U.S. and Canada this week. The trend featured thousands of posts in which players expressed their dissatisfaction with the ban.
“What is happening with WhatsTheStatus is extremely upsetting and disappointing,” wrote prominent WWE 2K community creator @OmegamanX44. “@WWEgames, this is a huge mistake and is alienating a large portion of the community.”
VGC contacted WhatsTheStatus and asked that it be referred to as “Status” rather than its formal name to clarify the situation.
“There was no warning shot. It just happened,” he claimed. “Usually there's a process of three strikes, a 24-hour ban, then two weeks, then a permanent ban. I didn't even receive an email stating the reason for the ban.”
When asked about the standards that 2K may have had to hold to WWE's licensing partners, particularly regarding inter-gender wrestling, Status asked for “the same treatment as any other athlete.”
“I was banned without any warning and no confirmation as to why, so there could be something going on. I am neither the first nor the only person to have uploaded heterosexual content. But I got a hit and everyone else made it out.”
As of this writing, VGC was able to easily find community-created content that enables intergender wrestling with tens of thousands of downloads.
“When official influencers are telling people where to download this content from other users other than me, nothing happens to anyone. WWE Games is not paying attention to creating a community. ,” Status claimed.
The creator was keen to point out that Vince McMahon had publicly refused to upload a hidden character model following ongoing legal issues surrounding the former WWE chairman.
“I uploaded Roman Reigns with his hair up in a man bun from MyRise, but one patch later, WWEGames blocked users from downloading it, so I couldn't download that Roman Reigns model. Want to know if you can? The hidden Vince McMahon model. So tell me why that's not a target.”
The issue of uploading hidden models doesn't seem to be black and white, as Status claimed that 2K is allowing some hidden models to be uploaded in WWE2K22.
As of this writing, a growing number of prominent figures in WWE gaming are expressing public support for the status, including some formerly with 2K.
Defract, another popular community creator, announced Wednesday that it was leaving 2K's Nextmakers program, apparently in part in response to WhatsTheStatus' ban.
The Nextmaker program is 2K's influencer partnership program where creators partner with 2K to receive early access to games to record content. The program was also intended for creators to provide feedback to her 2K. However, many people in the community are wondering how much feedback will be provided.
One issue that is regularly highlighted is the apparent lack of content filtering in the community creation tab, where players can upload custom images.
For example, what was meant to be used to upload logos and graphics for use on T-shirts of wrestlers in the arena and in-game was instead flooded with explicit images.
VGC was able to easily find explicit images within the first two pages of the community-created “New” tab.
