What to Expect From WWE 2K25 in 2025

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 24, 2024 4 Views 12 Min Read
What to Expect From WWE 2K25 in 2025

It’s not often a broken game should be praised, but that’s exactly the flowers WWE 2K20 deserves. At launch, the game was a disaster—but it was the impetus for Visual Concepts to take a year off from the annualized series, get its fundamentals down, and come back bigger than ever with WWE 2K22. That momentum carried forward with WWE 2K23 and even further with WWE 2K24. For the past few months, fans may have hoped for news on WWE 2K25, but 2K and Visual Concepts have been quiet on that front. Like an eventual Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk match, it’s just a matter of time.

The only real update fans have received on the title comes from Take-Two Interactive’s August 2024 financial report, where it was confirmed that WWE 2K25 was in development and would release in Q4 2025. This means it’ll be released by the end of March, but given that WWE 2K22, WWE 2K23, and WWE 2K24 also released in March, that’s not surprising at all. In many ways, fans can expect WWE 2K25 to roll out in a similar manner to its past games, and that’s the safest expectation. Getting into its possible content, though, is where everything goes out the window, like when The Rock returned ahead of WrestleMania 40.

WWE 2K25: The Basics Are Easy Enough to Predict

When it comes to news and marketing, it’s easy enough to bet on the basics. Fans can expect news as the Road to WrestleMania begins, they can expect trailers and news to proliferate in that space until release, and fans can expect WWE 2K25 to release in March 2025. Fans can also expect each superstar’s rating to roll out similarly to past years. Beyond that, it gets a little shaky. If we were to narrow down its release date any, it’s worth noting that the previous entries all released on the second Tuesday or second Friday of March 2025. March 11 or March 14 feels possible then, but since anything could make this shift around, there’s nothing wrong with just looking forward to March as a whole.

Cover Star and Special Feature

The leading news will likely be its cover star and special feature. Every recent WWE 2K game has led with these, although WWE 2K22 is a little different. Basically, everything was new about WWE 2K22, but arguably the return of MyGM mode was the feather in its cap. WWE 2K23‘s special feature was WarGames, while WWE 2K24 emphasized a plethora of new match types. What WWE 2K25‘s “feather in the cap” is remains to be seen. It’s impossible to predict, but fans can expect this reveal early on.

In my opinion, the cover star of WWE 2K games should be someone who can really draw in the audience. I also like how Showcase can be used to highlight their career, although the two do not have to be intertwined. It was for Rey Mysterio and John Cena, but not necessarily for Cody Rhodes and the Showcase of the Immortals. He certainly has his role in it, but Rhodes being on the WWE 2K24 cover and losing the last match of its Showcase always rubbed me the wrong way. Tangent aside, fans can expect the cover star to also be revealed early, but as to who that is remains to be seen.

Personal Cover Star Wish List

  • The Bloodline – I would like to see Roman Reigns and the OG Bloodline on the cover. Not only is Roman deserving since his last cover title was WWE 2K20 (and obviously he’s the OTC), but Bloodline Business is WWE Business. Seeing some of his original run as the Tribal Chief and the Head of the Table in Showcase Mode would be a smart move.
  • CM Punk – This also feels possible. CM Punk’s DLC addition to WWE 2K24 was a big deal, but not as big as his return to WWE. The Reigns/Punk segments have been hot as of late, and Punk’s Rivalry with Drew McIntyre exceeded high expectations. Looking at his past matches in Showcase during his current run would be a strong proposition; plus, we could finally get the John Cena vs. CM Punk Rival in a WWE 2K Showcase.
  • Drew McIntyre – Speaking of the Scottish Warrior, there’s no denying how big he has been over the past year or so. Reports indicate that there are major plans ahead for him in WWE. Not only does he deserve those flowers, but a cover would be fitting for him as well.
  • Nia Jax – Nia Jax has done amazing things since her return to WWE. She’s a dominant WWE Women’s Champion, and her storylines (especially around Tiffany) have made for great TV.
  • Liv Morgan – Likewise, Liv Morgan’s Revenge Tour has made her so easy to hate and her current reign isn’t without “controversy.” But seeing the two Women’s champs on the cover would be awesome.
  • Bayley – I’d also argue for Bayley. She’s lost some momentum in recent months, but her highs in winning the Royal Rumble and defeating Iyo Sky make a strong argument on their own.
  • The Undertaker – I’m never not going to argue for The Undertaker to be the cover star; I’ll take this hope to the grave.

Furthermore, a Roman Reigns and/or CM Punk Showcase being narrated by Paul Heyman would be fantastic.

A screenshot of CM Punk's WWE 2K24 entrance.

WWE 2K Game Modes Will Likely Follow the Formula

Again, while exact content is hard to predict, fans can expect the slew of game modes to return. A new game mode feels unlikely, but if it were to happen, chances are it would be the “special feature” that Visual Concepts and 2K pushes in its marketing. Otherwise, fans can expect the normal array of features:

  • Showcase
  • MyRise
  • MyFaction
  • Universe Mode
  • MyGM Mode
  • Online Matches + Community Creations

WWE 2K25 Showcase

Unless Visual Concepts has a special plan, which is hard to picture exactly outside the Showcase of the Immortals, chances are the Showcase will focus on the career of the cover star. It’ll largely focus on past matches, not more recent ones, although both are certainly possible to some degree.

What’ll be interesting to see is how VC counters WWE 2K‘s biggest Showcase weakness. While seeing the career of a cover star can be nostalgia, there’s an inherent weakness in that every match requires that superstar. Rey Mysterio’s Showcase was fantastic, but it was inherently repetitive. With John Cena, fans played match-ups he lost, but not every superstar is going to be that humble. Of course, WWE 2K24‘s Showcase of the Immortals explored the best matches in Mania history. In theory, this could also work for something like Survivor Series, the Royal Rumble, or SummerSlam, but that’s in “impossible to predict” territory.

WWE 2K25 MyRise

wwe 2k24 wcw dlc

Like in past years, fans can expect MyRise to continue its focus on two campaigns: one for men wrestlers, one for women wrestlers. It would be great to see bigger and more impactful choices that aren’t just pursuing certain storylines to a basic end, but otherwise, the stories told here can be fun. Roman Reigns’ role in WWE 2K24‘s Undisputed MyRise mode was second to none and honestly felt like a preview of a post-WrestleMania 40 world. While the story could go in any direction, adjusting or touching real-world WWE storylines would be awesome. Some ideas that could be cool:

  • A Massive Return – Maybe with flashbacks to bygone eras of WWE to set this up, it would be cool to see the world of WWE from the eyes of a returning superstar. Making our character, in essence, “CM Punk” would be cool. Or it could be that we coming back from an injury to a changed landscape (think Big E and New Day) or it could be coming back with a vengeance: Drew McIntyre’s current goals with the Bloodline. Of course, this would most likely be inspired by the returns of CM Punk or Randy Orton given WWE 2K25‘s development timeline.
  • Paul Heyman Guy – Another cool story could be being the next Paul Heyman Guy. Not only would this position a new superstar in an envious position, but it could also tell some fun stories with CM Punk and Roman Reigns.
  • Nia Jax’s return could work similar for a Massive Return on the women’s side.
  • Something pushing the WWE Women’s Tag titles could be interesting too.
  • It’s unlikely to happen, but a different story direction for the WWE Women’s US and Intercontinental titles could be interesting.
  • Likewise, it would be cool to be in a position where players have to hold onto the MITB for some time, like Damien and Tiffy, but this probably wouldn’t make for the best story.

Really, any real-world or completely fabricated storyline could work, but it’ll be interesting to see which way WWE 2K25’s story goes regardless.

WWE 2K25 Improvements

Overall, across the board, fans can expect a handful of improvements from gameplay mechanics to game modes. It’s important, however, to remember that WWE 2K is an annualized series and to ground all expectations in that. Improvements are likely to be incremental and not revolutionary, but with the solid foundation of recent WWE 2K games, that’s enough to be excited for the upcoming entry in the franchise.

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