After publisher THQ imploded late last year and assets were sold off, Take-Two was able to pick up the WWE franchise in a separate purchase. The move allowed the series a smooth transition to the new publisher, making it easier for WWE 2K14 to enter the ring this year.

"Amazingly enough, we worked throughout that whole time," said franchise creative director Cory Ledesma, who came to 2K Sports from THQ with most of the WWE team. "I think maybe we were only down half a day as we moved offices, or something like that; it was a really, really seamless transition."

"We've obviously been working together as a team for a very long time, so we felt a commitment to ourselves to continue to work on the game and to make sure the quality stands up. We knew that the game was going to get done; it was just a matter of [waiting for] the situation to unfold and to finalize itself," Ledesma told Polygon. "And we knew that it wasn't going to take a very long time, and it was a very quick transition, and so we wanted to make sure that production didn't stop because it can be very detrimental, obviously--even just missing a week, how much that impacts the schedule."

Ledesma said there are not going to be too many changes in this iteration of the game, but knowing that 2K is fully behind the franchise is important. "You've always got to fully support a product in order for it to reach its potential, and I think that just maybe wasn't happening [at THQ] as much as it should be. And so I think everyone looks at the new setup as an opportunity to really fully meet [the franchise's] potential."

WWE 2K14 will be out October 29 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.