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2K Sports and the WWE 2K development team hosted a press briefing earlier week to officially unveil key details for WWE 2K26, including the game’s cover star, editions, new match types, gameplay changes, and updates across multiple modes.
It was confirmed that WWE 2K26 will feature four editions, a first for the game franchise. The Standard Edition will feature CM Punk as the cover athlete as announced earlier this afternoon, marking his second time appearing on the cover following WWE ’13. Punk will also serve as the focus of this year’s Showcase Mode.
The other editions include the King of Kings Edition, which celebrates Paul Levesque; the Attitude Era Edition, themed around WWE’s late-1990s boom period and the Monday Night Wars Edition, which draws from WWE’s rivalry with WCW during the height of the era.
As noted, this year’s Showcase Mode centers entirely on CM Punk and will feature a mix of real-life career highlights, fantasy matchups against legends he never faced, and alternate-history scenarios exploring what might have happened had Punk never left WWE. Punk will narrate the Showcase.
The development team once again promoted WWE 2K26 as featuring the “biggest roster yet,” stating that the game will include over 400 playable characters spanning current superstars, legends, and surprises. Joe Hendry was announced as a pre-order bonus, while additional debuts and returns were mentioned, including Rey Fénix, Rusev, Isla Dawn, and Myles Borne, with further roster reveals planned as the marketing campaign continues towards the game's release. One should expect some sort of AAA representation in the game.
Several new match types were officially confirmed, including Inferno Match, I Quit Match, Three Stages of Hell, and Dumpster Match, alongside the continued support of intergender matches across core modes.
The game will also feature interactive entrances and updated commentary, with Booker T and Wade Barrett joining the broadcast team.
Gameplay changes were a major focus of the presentation. The team highlighted the addition of thumbtacks, stackable tables, and expanded environmental interactions, including improved barricade combat. A revamped stamina and reversal system aims to add more strategy while reducing overly repetitive reversal-heavy gameplay. Developers also emphasized improvements to physics and ragdoll interactions, particularly during falls, weapon usage, and high-impact moments, designed to make matches feel more dynamic and unpredictable.
A new start-of-match system allows players to choose how a match begins, including options such as chain wrestling, trading strikes, offering a handshake, rushing before the bell, or initiating a cheap shot depending on player choice and AI response.
One of the more significant changes announced was the introduction of the Ringside Pass, which replaces the traditional Downloable Character (DLC) pack model. The Ringside Pass functions as a battle pass-style system with both free and premium tiers, allowing players to earn unlockables by gaining XP across most game modes. The team stated that content previously tied to the Supercharger, including certain legends, will now be placed within the free tier of the Ringside Pass, meaning players can still unlock them through gameplay without additional purchases. Tier skips will be available as an optional purchase.
Updates were also detailed across major game modes. The MyGM feature will support more match types, more superstars per match, intergender bouts, longer seasons, cross-brand events, and increased difficulty options. MyRISE features new storylines with greater emphasis on player choice, branching outcomes, and continued progression after the main story concludes. MyFACTION introduces Quick Swap matches, allowing players to instantly change characters mid-match rather than relying on traditional tagging mechanics.
The Island mode is expanding significantly in WWE 2K26, with a new brawl environment called The Scrapyard, additional story content, and three factions players can align with—Anarchy, Shadow, and Tradition. The team confirmed that The Island will be available on all platforms this year, including PC, addressing a common complaint from last year’s release.
Universe Mode will see the addition of a WWE Draft, a new creation wizard, Watch Show mode, expanded promo options, and improved Money in the Bank cash-in functionality. The Creation Suite is also receiving notable upgrades, including doubled limits for created superstars and image slots, deeper body and facial morphing tools, and the introduction of two-tone hair color blending.
Release dates were also clarified during the briefing. The King of Kings, Attitude Era, and Monday Night Wars editions will grant early access starting March 6, while the Standard Edition will be released on March 13.
More details, including a full breakdown of Ringside Pass content and additional roster reveals, are expected to be announced in the coming weeks as the marketing campaign gets underway.
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