WWE 2K26

It's been a while since the debacle known as WWE 2K20 unfolded. It may be one of the worst games I've ever played, but 2K didn't give up. Instead, they took a year's break, and the series has now made a remarkable recovery. Sure, there are a few minor graphical issues that have been around since the dawn of time, but overall, it's now approaching some of the best games in the genre.

The best thing is that the game is now packed with content. There are game modes left and right and a collection of over 400 wrestlers, although many of these are different versions of the same person and/or fictional characters from the game's Career Mode. But considering that we were once ecstatic about being able to choose between ten or twelve in the old WCW games, it's silly to complain.

This year's cover boy is CM Punk, who returned to WWE a couple of years ago after a colourful spell in AEW. He is also the one we get to follow in this year's Showcase mode, which follows his career. We have previously seen John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and last year's Bloodline Dynasty. This time, they have mixed some of the previous concepts, as not only do we get to play real matches from his career, such as classics against JBL, Undertaker, and Randy Orton, but also dream matches against his idols, be that Stone Cold Steve Austin or Eddie Guerrero. In addition, we get to experience some "what if" scenarios such as "what would have happened if he hadn't left WWE in 2014?". This is the game mode for anyone who likes to be nostalgic and play through things they've seen themselves and 2K has done a good job with all of these in recent years. New for this year is the ability to unlock all rewards from the game mode without having to sit through all the backstories and the like. Instead, you can play a Gauntlet as CM Punk or AJ Lee against 20 opponents, one after the other. If you succeed, you unlock all the rewards.

So, what do we find among the other seven game modes? Nothing new really, just old game modes that have been given some new material. The most classic, and the one that usually gets the least love in sports games, is what WWE 2K calls Universe Mode. It's a sandbox mode, similar to Franchise in other sports games, where you can play God. You decide on the shows, who will be the champion, who will face who in matches, and so on. New for this year is that WWE Draft is now included, which is said to have been requested by fans. It's exactly as it sounds; during the draft, you will be able to steal one of the other shows' wrestlers, and they can do the same to you. In addition, there has been an update to how the Money in the Bank winner can redeem their contract. Instead of having a title predetermined before the show starts, it's now possible to redeem it for any eligible title during a show. As you can see in the image below, it's also possible to choose to redeem the contracts during an ongoing match or after it has ended to take advantage of the fact that the champion is likely to be completely exhausted.

The second game mode that falls under the same category is GM Mode. Just like in Universe Mode, you are responsible for your show, but here you are no longer god. Here, you compete against up to three other players, who can be real or AI, where the goal is to book the best shows possible. As before, you book four matches per week, where the goal is to find the perfect mix of who faces whom and in what type of match. To help provide greater variety, lots of new match types have now been added, where it's also possible to book intergender matches, i.e. men against women. A major improvement is that it's now possible to double-book a wrestler so that they can both do a promo and have a match, something that was not available before, as you had to choose one or the other.

Something I wasn't a big fan of last year was the new mode, The Island. It was basically WWE 2K's equivalent of what NBA 2K had had for many years with The City (and similar names). That is, an online hub with a variety of shops to buy cosmetic items in for real money, and opportunities to play against others online with a small offline story as well. It's back again this year with the big difference that you now have to choose to join one of three "teams". CM Punk's Order of Anarchy, Rhea Ripley's Order of Shadows, or Cody Rhodes' Order of Tradition. This is really to divide all players into teams to compete against each other, something WWE 2K has had for a long time. Each "order" has its own PvP arena to explore, among other things.

And if there's one online mode you can bet money on returning in every sports game, it's Ultimate Team, with different names depending on the game. MyFaction is what 2K has named it in WWE 2K. You know how it works now: open card packs, unlock new wrestlers that you can use to fight others who have done exactly the same thing. Unfortunately, the updates are very poor here. There are really only two that have any major impact on things. Chemistry has been introduced, where your team reacts well or poorly to the others on the team. This can lead to a boost or negative impact on various things. The second is the new Quick Swap match type. In this mode, you can switch from one wrestler to another out of your four selected wrestlers in the middle of the match. This is something you may have seen in other fighting games, with a tag-like setup.

The game mode I personally find most interesting every year is the Career Mode. Here, you create a wrestler and go through a story. This year, it's about what's called "The Comeback". You've been away from WWE for a couple of years and your return isn't quite what you had in mind. Therefore, you get to decide how you're going to get back to the top. Be kind and work hard, or completely change direction and become a villain who wants to destroy everything and everyone. It's still quite menu-based, with many conversations taking place on social media or by choosing one of X number of people to talk to who are standing right in front of you. They still haven't chosen to bring back the ability to walk around backstage a little more freely. Here, it's one conversation after another that takes you to different matches, be these matches that take you further in the story or side quests that can unlock other things, or give you points to make your wrestler better. While the story isn't something that will turn this whole genre upside down, it's still entertaining to play through.

So, how is the gameplay in the ring? The most important aspect of them all. Good, is really the word I want to use. It's not hugely different from what we saw last year, but there are quite a few new features. Right when the match starts, you can now choose from a few different options, such as whether you want to entertain the crowd, go and shake hands (and maybe give a little dirty look), go for a surprise attack, or start wrestling. The idea is that you should try to gain the upper hand over your opponents and start the match in the best possible way. Another thing they seem to have thought about is the reactions when someone lands on an object that is not currently in active use. For example, there might be a chair or a ladder in the ring that you could land on. Previously, this didn't lead to anything, it was like landing on the floor, but now it will more often lead to what I would call "ouch reactions" and blood. I would say that the game is better than it has ever been in the ring, with a few minor issues in some animations, but nothing that is distracting. In addition, they never seem to be able to fix the visual issue of the championship belts floating a few centimetres above the shoulders of those wearing them.

Now for the biggest reason why it's hard to justify buying it at launch: WWE 2K26 comes with a season pass. So, in addition to buying the game at full price and spending money on various DLC packs, you now need to spend more for each of the six different season passes, where there is a lot of content that is only unlocked in them... The worst part is that this has replaced the previous DLC setup. Before, you bought a pack and got all the content in it at once. Now, instead, the content you've spent your hard-earned money on is locked (in the premium version of the pass) until you reach a specific level. The first pass, which is available from the start, is about Mexican wrestlers, but there are four to unlock, the first of which can be unlocked immediately. However, the last one doesn't come until level 20. And it takes a long time to get from one level to another. If you want to play in the Mexican arena where TripleMania XXXIII was held, you need to reach the last level (40). This will require a considerable amount of playing time to unlock something you have already paid for. This is really not the right way to go, as buying DLC and then not having access to everything until you have played X number of hours is not okay. The solution? Buy level skips for real money. Pay to unlock what you have paid for faster...

WWE 2K26 is the best the series has to offer in the ring, and most game modes have been improved from last year, but the introduction of this new season pass may scare many away.