2K Sports activities has shared info on the following instalment of its subsequent WWE sport, WWE 2K26.
The sport might be launched on March 13 on PS5, Xbox Collection X/S, Swap 2 and PC, with particular editions offering early entry from March 6.
This additionally confirms that the last-gen variations of the sport have now formally retired. The collection has been out there on Xbox One and PS4 since WWE 2K15, however 2K26 won’t be coming to these platforms.
WWE 2K26 will function the most important roster within the collection’ historical past, with a roster of greater than 400 playable characters masking Uncooked, Smackdown, NXT and WWE legends. New additions this 12 months embrace Rey Fénix, Blake Monroe and the returning Rusev.
The sport’s Showcase mode – which lets gamers tackle a collection of previous and fantasy matches revolving round a sure theme – might be referred to as Punked this 12 months, and can give attention to the profession of CM Punk, narrated by the wrestler himself.
4 new match varieties might be included – Three Phases of Hell, I Give up, Inferno and Dumpster – whereas new weapons embrace stackable tables, purchasing carts and thumbtacks.
The sport may also be abandoning the earlier DLC mannequin, which noticed packs of wrestlers arriving each couple of months. As an alternative, a brand new Ringside Move system might be used, just like Battle Passes in different video games.
Every season of the Ringside Move will embrace a free model with 60 tiers to unlock, and a premium season with an additional 40 tiers to unlock. By incomes XP throughout all sport modes, gamers will unlock superstars, beauty and customisation objects, VC foreign money, content material for MyFaction and The Island modes, and extra.
There might be six seasons of Ringside Move over the course of the 12 months, and gamers who pay for the Premium Ringside Move will unlock new playable characters together with present superstars, legends, personas and “some sudden names”.
The primary season will launch alongside the sport, and the free tier in Season 1 will unlock superstars and legends who have been beforehand unlockable via the paid Supercharger function in earlier video games.
Different new options confirmed for WWE 2K26 embrace the next:
- A revamp of the reversals and stamina system
- Interactive entrances the place gamers can management their wrestler’s actions
- The addition of Booker T and Wade Barrett to the commentary group
- Create-a-Celebrity save slots rise from 100 to 200, picture storage capability rises from 1,000 to 2,000, deeper physique and face morphing instruments and two-tone hair color mixing
- MyFaction will get intergender matches, a brand new Fast Swap match kind and Faction Chemistry and run-in help
- MyGM mode provides intergender matches, 5- 6- and 8-man matches and help for extra match varieties
- MyRise provides two new division-based storylines
- Universe mode will get the WWE Draft, a Universe creation wizard, additional promo varieties and improved Cash within the Financial institution cash-ins
- The Island will get an all-new storyline that includes three separate factions. The Island might be out there on PC this time
- Swap 2 model will get optionally available touchscreen and mouse help, GameShare, GameChat, help for single Pleasure-Con gameplay, and mouse help in Creation Suite for face and physique portray
- Swap 2 now helps Picture Uploader and cross-platform Neighborhood Creations
WWE 2K26 might be out there in 4 separate editions, starting from the $69.99 / 69.99 Commonplace Version to the $149.99 / £139.99 Monday Night time Warfare Version.
Gamers who pre-order on PS5, Xbox Collection X/S or PC (not Swap 2) may also get the digital base WWE 2K25 sport to play whereas they wait.
The 4 editions are as follows:
WWE 2K26 – Commonplace Version
- $69.99 / £69.99, releases on March 13
- Accommodates the bottom sport
- Pre-order to get the Joe Hendry Pack
- Playable Joe Hendry
- Joe Hendry shirt beauty merchandise
- Joe Hendry MyFaction Evo card
- Joe Hendry Spin Emote for The Island
WWE 2K26 – King of Kings Version
- $99.99 / £89.99, supplies early entry from March 6
- Consists of Commonplace Version and Joe Hendry Pack
- Ringside Move Premium Season 1
- 32,500 VC foreign money
- Playable Triple H ’98
- Playable Stephenie McMahon ’00
- Triple H Signature Taunt Emote for The Island
WWE 2K26 – Perspective Period Version
- $129.99 / £119.99, supplies early entry from March 6
- Consists of all content material from King of Kings Version
- Ringside Move Premium Season 1-4
- Playable The Rock ’99
- Playable Kane ’98
- Playable Chyna ’97
- Stone Chilly Steve Austin ‘Rattlesnake’ MyFaction Evo card
- The Rock ‘Individuals’s Champ’ MyFaction Evo card
- Uncooked is Warfare ’98 enviornment
- Undertaker ‘Thumb Throughout the Neck’ Emote for The Island
- Shawn Michaels ‘DX Crotch Chop’ Emote for The Island
- Celebrity Mega-Enhance, together with 200 MySuperstar attribute factors
- 100,000 VC foreign money
WWE 2K26 – Monday Night time Warfare Version
- $149.99 / £139.99, supplies early entry from March 6
- Consists of all content material from Perspective Period and King of Kings Editions
- Ringside Move Premium Seasons 1-6
- Playable Shawn Michaels DX
- Playable Macho Man Randy Savage ’98
- Playable Rowdy Roddy Piper ’98
- WCW Thunder ’98 Enviornment
- Diamond Dallas Web page ‘Bang!’ Emote for The Island
- WrestleMania 42 Pack, together with the WrestleMania 42 enviornment and three MyFaction Persona Playing cards (post-launch)
VGC’s WWE 2K25 overview referred to as it “a strong annual enchancment”, saying: “With a string of enhancements throughout all its present modes, WWE 2K25 outdoes its predecessor in just about each approach.
“The weak hyperlink is the brand new Island mode with its cynical pay-to-win mechanics, however throw a Cena taunt in its face and fake it doesn’t exist and also you’ll discover greater than sufficient elsewhere within the sport to maintain you entertained for months.”
We additionally reviewed the Swap 2 model launched 4 months later, praising it for delivering an genuine expertise on Nintendo‘s system.
“The Swap 2 model of WWE 2K25 is the perfect wrestling sport on a Nintendo console since at the very least the N64 period, actually the GameCube one,” we wrote.
“It’s not with out its faults, a few of that are current on all variations of the sport, however the general package deal is an excellent providing. It’s satisfying sufficient as an annual iteration on different codecs, however as the primary non-broken WWE 2K entry on a Nintendo console for the reason that 480p period, it’s a revelation for Nintendo-playing wrestling followers.”
