‘There was no warning’: 2K faces community backlash after banning leading WWE 2K24 creator

2K is facing a community backlash, following its decision to ban a popular WWE 2K24 creator.

On April 22, ‘WhatsTheStatus’, a creator known for uploading content that is usually inaccessible to players, took to X to announce that all of his uploads, which amounted to dozens of wrestlers and other content, had been removed from the game without warning.

The following day, he claimed he’d been permanently banned from playing the game online, thus losing all access to its community creations features, with no option to appeal.

“We were recently alerted that this account has been associated with inappropriate content,” read a message allegedly displayed to WhatsTheStatus when he logged into the game. “This is a violation of our End User License Agreement which every player accepts prior to accessing WWE 2K24 online features.”

Asked for clarification on the ban, a 2K spokesperson told VGC: “The player in question has received an indefinite ban due to violations of terms.

“Mods which negatively impact the game experience for other players violate our terms. Our primary concern is a positive WWE 2K24 experience for all players.”

It’s not clear exactly which content was deemed to have violated 2K’s terms, but WhatsTheStatus is known for uploading content that is usually inaccessible to players, such as hidden models of certain wrestlers, or characters that appear in the game but aren’t playable, such as the in-game commentators.

Notably, in WWE 2K24, he uploaded versions of every female wrestler in the game, enabling them to wrestle against male wrestlers, something the standard game doesn’t allow.

Due to his reputation for uploading this type of content, WhatsTheStatus developed a large following in the WWE games community. Following his ban, many players have expressed anger at 2K.

“Free Status,” briefly trended in the United States and Canada this week. The trend featured thousands of posts in which players expressed their frustration about the ban.

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