WWE returns next month for another annual installment via the appropriately named WWE 2K25. The series moved its releases to March a few years ago following the two-year break brought about by the fallout from WWE 2K20. That means its release window now falls right in the middle of WrestleMania season. It also means previews are happening right at the start of WrestleMania season, and with last weekend’s Royal Rumble still fresh in my mind, I was afforded the opportunity to visit 2K HQ and try out some of what WWE 2K25 has to offer.
As is often the case with annually updated sports sim series, making the next chapter feel different from the last can be a tall order. The first ten minutes or so of my time with WWE 2K25 felt almost indistinguishable from my last outing with WWE 2K24 about 18 hours earlier.
Related
WWE 2K25 Pre-Order Guide: Editions, Bonus, Release Date, And More
Everything you need to know about pre-ordering WWE 2K25 including its three editions and how much they cost.
I’m glad I revisited WWE 2K24 before heading off to play the game that will replace it, and not just because I would have spent the first part of my preview staring at the controls menu if I hadn’t. Since the visuals from the current game were still fresh in my mind from the night before, it was easier to pick up on places where they’ve been improved upon since last year. The entrances and post-match celebrations, in particular, look slightly more polished.
WWE 2K25 Gives Showcase Mode The Shake-Up It Desperately Needed
Those Wild Samoans Can Get A Little Too Wild, Though
Just because WWE 2K25 looks like 2K24 with a slightly shinier coat of paint and (somehow) an even bigger roster doesn’t mean you should disregard it before it even gets here. The best part of my few hours with the game was playing parts of its showcase, and that’s not been something I’ve been able to say about the last few games in the series.
I already knew going in that what 2K refers to as ‘slingshot tech’ – jumping from gameplay to live-action footage and back again – was gone, thank god. There are still cutscenes in some of the matches, but it’s all in-engine stuff that’s not nearly as jarring.
There were three matches available during the preview – Nia Jax vs. Lyra Valkyria at King and Queen of the Ring, Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins from Royal Rumble 2022, and The Wild Samoans vs. The Dudley Boyz. If you’re racking your brain trying to remember when exactly that last match happened, you can stop, because it didn’t.
WWE 2K25’s showcase will include what are effectively dream matches. I’m assuming they will all feature members of the Anoa’i family since this year’s showcase is all about The Bloodline Dynasty, though I wasn’t privy to anything from showcase mode other than the three matches already mentioned.
If the other made-up matches are anything like the one I played, they’ll be the best part of this year’s showcase mode. While there were objectives to hit, they were vague and the kind of stuff that happens in every match if you play normally. It was simply a dream match between two incredible tag teams from different eras, and it was a lot of fun.
Paul Heyman also does a stellar job with the packages between each match. Seriously, the next time Rollins and Reigns wrestle, just take what he did for this and use that to hype the match.
There was one problem, although it only made my showcase experience even more amusing. The bout is a tables match, and as I was making sure the objectives were checked off as Afa during my first attempt to complete the match, I wasn’t keeping a close enough eye on Sika. My Wild Samoan brother sent Bubba Ray careening through a table. That brought the match to an abrupt end before I’d completed the objectives I previously said would be ticked off with ease. Just keep an eye on Sika when he goes to get the tables when you get the chance to play this one.
Beating Up Men As Rhea Ripley Is Even More Fun Than It Sounds
Slapping The Rock Around As Jade Cargill Hits The Spot Too
The other big change coming your way in WWE 2K25 is the return of intergender matches. Men and women haven’t been able to wrestle each other in a WWE game since SmackDown vs. Raw 2009. The reveal that intergender matches were returning didn’t get much of a reaction out of me at first. It felt a little like a studio reaching into its, at this point, almost empty bag of new match-type ideas in the hope of finding something for the next game.
However, it turns out having Rhea Ripley beat the tar out of her male counterparts is more fun than I anticipated. Her cocky celebrations after I used her to lay waste to LA Knight felt even more pointed than usual, and Ripley isn’t the only woman in 2K25 who can hold her own against the men. Playing as Jade Cargill and having her no-sell a slap from The Rock might have been my favorite moment in the entire three-hour preview.
Chain wrestling also makes its return in WWE 2K25. In real life WWE, chain wrestling involves talented in-ring performers putting together slick sequences to wow the crowd. The ability to chain together moves like a real wrestler would makes the WWE 2K experience feel more real, and many fans of the series might argue it never should have been dropped from the games in the first place.
2K has also added a third-person camera to the game. This won’t mean much to some of you, but I had a lot of fun messing around with it, particularly during the entrances. You’re free to move the camera however you like, making it the perfect feature for those of you who want to play booker more than MyGM and Universe mode will allow.
WWE 2K25 Will Be More Than A Resprayed WWE 2K24
It Feels Like The New Features Will Make It Worth Your While
My takeaway after having tried some of what WWE 2K25 has to offer is that with graphics almost as good as they can be and only 12 months having passed since the last game, it’s hard to make something that feels entirely new. However, even at this early stage with only a limited amount of the game available to me, there are ways 2K has made sure this isn’t merely WWE 2K24 Part 2.
The showcase, in particular, is almost certainly going to feel vastly improved compared to the last few offerings. That’s evident from the three matches I played, and honestly, was clear after just one. Intergender wrestling will undoubtedly generate some fun content and reactions too. Our timelines will be flooded with in-game footage of Ripley torturing Dominik Mysterio in a thousand different ways within a week of release day and I’m very much here for it.
There’s naturally a lot more to come that I didn’t experience during the preview, or I did and can’t talk about (yet). If you’re okay with your annual iterations of WWE games simply being an improvement on what you’ve been playing for the past year, then I’m fairly confident WWE 2K25 won’t disappoint.
WWE 2K25
- Released
-
March 14, 2025
- Developer(s)
-
Visual Concepts
- Publisher(s)
-
2K Sports
- Genres
-