Game Developer says Hulk Hogan in WWE 2K14 was "a hurdle"

As noted yesterday, Eric Bischoff blasted “parasites and morons who run dirt sites” for reports that there has been heat on Hulk Hogan within TNA for booking a licensing deal with 2K Sports to appear in WWE 2K14. According to Bischoff, WWE is simply utilizing existing trademarks and assets that they already own for the game. However, WWE 2K14 Creative Director Cory Ledesma seemed to indicate in a recent interview that some sort of deal was made, noting that Hulk Hogan appearing in the game was “a hurdle.”

“We wanted to obviously make sure we had the biggest matches, the most iconic matches [for the 30 years of WrestleMania mode],” Ledesma said. “The first hurdle we had was Hulk Hogan. Hulk Hogan’s not currently with the WWE. We knew that if we couldn’t get Hulk Hogan, we weren’t going to have a ’30 years of WrestleMania’ mode, it’s just not possible. Hogan was involved in so many matches and so many moments, that he was critical to the game. We knew once we could overcome that hurdle, and Hulk Hogan was able to get into the game, we knew that it was going to be kinda downhill from there and we’d be able to secure a lot of the talent that might not be with WWE any more.”