Since its unique inclusion in WWE 2K22, the MyFaction mode has turn out to be one of the crucial in style components of the WWE 2K collection.
For these not aware of it, MyFaction is the sport’s equal of the MyTeam mode in NBA 2K, or Final Crew in EA Sports activities FC, providing a collection-focused tackle the game impressed by buying and selling playing cards.
Gamers construct up their MyFaction roster by gathering wrestlers, then use the MFP (MyFaction Factors) earned within the mode – or VC forex earned via actual cash purchases – to purchase new packs, strengthening their faction with more and more extra highly effective superstars with higher stats.
As with the collection’ different modes, yearly WWE 2K collection developer Visible Ideas provides new options to MyFaction in an try and maintain it contemporary and guarantee gamers should not solely completely happy to start out every yearly entry with a model new faction, however proceed to stay engaged till the following sport rolls alongside.
For WWE 2K26 – which is ready for launch on March 13 with early entry on March 6 – MyFaction will probably be getting a brand new Fast Swap match sort, in addition to intergender matches (which had beforehand been obtainable in different modes) and a brand new chemistry system.
Regardless of my basic reluctance to interact with its microtransactions – I solely made a single buy in it this yr, as talked about within the interview beneath – MyFaction remains to be the mode the place I’ve spent most of my time in WWE 2K25, placing effectively over 100 hours into it.
As such, once I acquired the chance for a fast chat with MyFaction product proprietor / lead designer Terrell Carter and MyFaction affiliate designer Brian Mazique to debate the brand new options being added to MyFaction in WWE 2K26, I used to be completely happy to take them up on the provide.
Can we begin with Fast Swap? Till now, whenever you play 4v4 tag matches, particularly in Faction Wars, it appears to be the identical state of affairs each time the place you attempt to isolate one opponent, pin them a number of instances so their companions are not allowed to interrupt the pin, after which beat them. Was Fast Swap designed to cease that?
TERRELL CARTER: Yeah, you hit the nail proper on the top, Chris. The thought originated for Fast Swap… I don’t know what number of years you’ve been taking part in MyFaction however if you happen to have been there in the beginning you’ll keep in mind the early Faction Wars, the place it was solely 4v4 the entire time. And yeah, we noticed followers’ reactions to that, and the behaviour of taking part in, and have been like “this doesn’t appear enjoyable”.
We wished to create one thing a bit bit quicker, a bit bit extra direct, the place you’ll be able to nonetheless play as a crew however not have all of the troubles of a standard 4v4 match in our sport. So yeah, Fast Swap was purported to be that, the place you get to usher in your crew of 4 however you solely have to fret concerning the 1v1 match-up.
It’s going to be a KO win situation for this in yr one, and the objective is to knock out all opponents on the other crew. You don’t need to go to the aspect of the ring to tag anybody, there’s a button mixture to tag your teammates in, and so they simply swap in instantly and also you get proper to the motion.
Additionally, your particular and your finisher bars are shared between your teammates, that means you don’t need to swap in and construct this different particular person’s meter up, and end your fill up. The one factor that’s not shared is well being. However the objective is to attempt to have fast motion, much less burdensome for these interferences that occur, and also you simply get straight to the motion.
So presumably there are occasions when you’ll be able to’t carry out the fast swap to keep away from it being spammed? Is there a cooldown, or is it a state of affairs the place if the opponent’s shocked they will’t swap out?
TC: Yeah, there are specific events the place it’s not legitimate to do a fast swap. Usually, you’ll be able to solely do a fast swap whenever you’re standing in idle. You may’t do one whenever you’re down, or if you happen to’re on the apron or on the highest rope, you’ll be able to solely swap whenever you’re in an idle standing place. That means we mitigate any issues. It makes it really feel a bit extra strategic, too, as a result of it’s important to get again to that impartial area.
One of many new modes in 2K25 was World Tour, which plenty of gamers favored. Is that coming again in 2K26?
TC: Oh, sure.
I don’t know what occurred with it in 2K25, nevertheless it appears like there have been different areas deliberate for it, and issues didn’t work out that means? It began with simply US missions, and Japan was solely simply added to it pretty just lately, and though it hints that the UK can also be on the way in which I’m assuming it received’t make it to the sport in time now. Are there measures in place for 2K26 to ensure all the pieces that’s deliberate for it rolls out smoother this time?
TC: Yeah, we realized rather a lot this primary yr out with World Tour. It was fairly huge. One of many largest issues we selected to do for 2K26 is to interrupt it up into smaller chunks. It’s the large chunks that take plenty of manufacturing time, take rather a lot to get out, so breaking them aside into smaller chunks and in addition having extra areas obtainable from the beginning of the yr goes to assist out fairly a bit with us having the ability to get that content material out to the gamers.
So you need to be capable of count on smaller, extra frequent updates than final yr for World Tour, nevertheless it’s undoubtedly coming again.
Intergender matches have been launched in 2K25 however MyFaction didn’t have it, that means gamers have been nonetheless constructing separate female and male groups. Now that intergender matches are being added to MyFaction this yr, is that throughout the board, and fully scrapping the boys’s and girls’s divisions within the mode, or is it only a modifier for sure particular matches?
TC: It’s fully throughout the board. There will probably be events the place there are specific necessities, the place it’s important to take one or the opposite in, however the majority of MyFaction goes to be no matter you need your faction to be, it’s going to be allowed.
Presumably Faction Wars is again too, so does that imply you not must have a crew of 4 males and a crew of 4 ladies, and it’s only a crew of 4 superstars of any gender?
TC: It’s only one clear crew. We’ve truly modified the make-up of Faction Wars. There will probably be Starter Decks that you simply begin with, so it’s going to be a randomised place to begin on your MyFaction journey.
All of the decks you could load into Faction Wars have their very own effectors to affect your run, in order that’s going to be thrilling to see gamers play that. However it’s going to be a brand new, contemporary tackle Faction Wars this yr.
It is a lengthy query, however an vital one! I seen that final yr, round about August, you launched the Diamond Plus Pack, the place you could possibly get a bunch of VC, a load of card packs, some evolution playing cards and the 2 playing cards wanted for the large August and September reside occasions. Was {that a} take a look at to see if there was an alternate strategy to monetise Dwell Occasions, the place often you want a particular card and – if it’s a newly launched card – it’s important to maintain spending cash on packs within the hope you’ll get them?
For the time being, for instance, there’s a Dwell Occasion the place you may get an Infinite Bron Breakker card, however you want a particular 99-rated AJ Kinds Royal Rumble card to participate, and I’m not spending $100 on a bunch of card packs when there’s no assure I’ll get him. So I’m taking a look at that Dwell Occasion and saying “I’m not doing that”, whereas if the cardboard was obtainable for a smaller payment (as with the Diamond Plus Pack, which I purchased) I may need thought-about spending a small quantity to ensure entry, versus a big quantity to threat it. If that is sensible?
TC: That is sensible. I’ll say we attempt to discover methods for gamers to make the most of their collections or… mainly, if there’s one thing that requires a participant to spend, we attempt to give them further profit for it. So the hope is that gamers don’t really feel like they’re required to make that buy to do something within the sport, but when they do make a purchase order, there’s some further profit they get for it, there’s some utilization they’ve outdoors of simply purchases.
So we attempt to give extra content material primarily based on these issues, fairly than be extremely restrictive. Hopefully it doesn’t really feel extremely restrictive to the gamers. I do know me and Brian talked about simply mixing issues up for Dwell Occasions for the upcoming yr, simply having these completely different ranges, completely different sorts of issues that gamers can do for Dwell Occasions.
So we now have a few of people who ping-pong off of one thing that you simply may need bought, but additionally have basic ones you could simply grind in MyFaction for and never have to fret about all that different stuff. Hopefully it doesn’t really feel too restricted, however “it’s like a bonus” is the intent behind it.
“We have now some [Live Events] that ping-pong off of one thing that you simply may need bought, but additionally have basic ones you could simply grind in MyFaction for and never have to fret about all that different stuff. Hopefully it doesn’t really feel too restricted, however ‘it’s like a bonus’ is the intent behind it.”
BRIAN MAZIQUE: I’d say additionally to that, even to that particular occasion – You’re speaking concerning the Encore model of Rattlesnake Rage. That is occurring proper now, you gotta have the Galaxy Opal AJ Kinds and tackle the Stone Chilly, and also you get the Infinite Bron Breakker. So even for that one, that one’s in its second run now. So now that Galaxy Opal AJ Kinds is definitely within the Card Market, you don’t have to drag packs to get it. You may put your MFP collectively, go straight to the cardboard market and get that card, after which there it’s.
[note: the Live Faction event in question is currently not yet an Encore event, meaning the required card is not yet in the Card Market, but Mazique’s answer suggests an Encore event may still be coming]
BM: It’s virtually like, if you happen to deal with it, if you happen to play it that means, you’ll be able to form of say “at the moment I’m grinding proper now, I’m going after this specific card, so that is the MFP, I’m attempting to stack the MFP to get there” or what have you ever. And you understand, clearly alongside the way in which you get completely different packs and a number of the playing cards are gonna offer you MFP as a result of you have already got them, and so it’s form of like a journey via that.
So I believe one factor that we at all times attempt to do is rarely make it the place your palms are tied the place you’ll be able to’t simply get a card. We by no means need that to be the case. In order that was plenty of the rationale why Encores have been created, in order that it was by no means a state of affairs the place you have been at some extent the place “I’m opening packs, I’m opening as many packs as I can, I simply haven’t pulled the cardboard”.
At this level, it’s like, as soon as the cardboard is within the card market, I’m by no means actually in that place. I can go on to the cardboard market and get the cardboard that I need, or that I must unlock the cardboard that I need.
I believe the opposite main new addition we haven’t mentioned but is Faction Chemistry. How does that work? Is that primarily based on the 4 superstars in your squad?
TC: So, you understand earlier than you load right into a match you’ve your four-card line-up, proper? So all of the playing cards this yr will include character traits related to them, each optimistic and adverse. These traits will contribute to chemistry effectors – 5 optimistic and 5 adverse – and so relying on what traits your line-up has which synergise collectively, you’ll contribute to a sure effector.
So there’s sure character traits that might contribute to… I’ll say certainly one of them is Teamwork, which will increase your possibilities of a run-in on your crew in eligible match sorts. So it’s going to be primarily based on character traits and what number of of them synergise throughout your line-up. And the extra you’ve that synergise throughout your line-up, the stronger that effector is, and that features your adverse traits as effectively.
One of many issues that might occur in case you have dangerous chemistry is that your teammates in a tag match might deny you tagging them in. So it ought to be a enjoyable dynamic to assist affect who you resolve goes into your line-up, so providing you with extra instruments to resolve the right way to create your faction, is the intention for chemistry for this yr.
“One of many issues that might occur in case you have dangerous chemistry is that your teammates in a tag match might deny you tagging them in.”
Presumably that additionally helps to dissuade gamers from simply selecting their 4 highest-rated playing cards each time, as a result of it won’t find yourself being the perfect 4 when chemistry is taken under consideration?
TC: You may nonetheless try this, however there’s advantages outdoors of that. So the advantages that you simply get from chemistry may very well be higher than what you get from setting your line-up as your prime rarity of us. It’s best to nonetheless be capable of try this, however you’ll need to software round to search out the fitting mixture that you simply’re okay with by way of crew chemistry for that match.
Lastly, I like unlocking the Elite motion determine variations of the superstars as Persona playing cards in MyFaction. I see that WWE 2K Battlegrounds is being delisted quickly, so there’ll be no extra arcade-style WWE sport round. Who do I pitch to get an arcade spin-off of WWE 2K which solely has the motion figures, combating in a toy ring in someone’s bed room?
TC: The Elite figures will probably be coming again in 2K26 and funnily sufficient, we’ve talked about stuff like that fairly a bit.
BM: Similar thought, similar thought!
TC: Like, “these may very well be in their very own sport!”. However no, they are going to be coming again for positive this yr [in 2K26].
