Sports video game publishing label 2K — owned by major game holding company Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. [stock_market_widget type="inline" template="generic" color="default" assets="TTWO" markup="(NASDAQ: {symbol} {currency_symbol}{price} ({change_pct}))" api="yf"] — just announced a major marketing initiative to support blood cancer research.
This new initiative is taking place in the run up to the release of WWE 2K20 next month, and will see 2K spreading Leukemia & Lymphoma Society messages via Twitter using the “we fight, we overcome, we believe” branding.
The company will donate $2 to leukemia research for each retweet of those messages, up to a maximum of $500,000.
Aside from direct monetary support, the partnership will see 2K arranging for WWE superstars and 2K employees to visit blood cancer patients in hospitals, as well as Leukemia & Lymphoma Society members appearing at promo events for the launch of WWE 2K20.
Leukemia survivor Roman Reigns is one of the cover stars of this year’s iteration in the annual wrestling game franchise, standing alongside Becky Lynch, which marks the first time the game will allow female superstar players in MyCareer mode.
While the 2K Showcase mode will highlight the rise of female wrestlers in the WWE since 2014, the story-based Towers mode pivots to cover Roman Reigns in particular.
Announcing the research and awareness partnership this morning, 2K’s Vice President of Marketing Chris Snyder commented:
WWE 2K20 is due to officially land on PC and console platforms this coming Oct. 22, 2019.
While football and basketball have seen major conversions in recent years, professional wrestling currently represents a somewhat untapped sector of the eSports market, lacking the same level of major tournaments, championships, and leagues of competing sports.
The industry is currently waiting to see if WWE 2K20 changes that trend as eSports continue to grow in popularity with traditional sports fans and the pro wrestling community.
In other news, Take-Two Interactive will host a live audio stream of an annual investor meeting on Sept. 18 via the company’s online investor resource portal.
