WWE 2K26 review – It’s okayfabe

The road to Wrestlemania kicked off earlier this year, and right on time for April’s showcase of immortals, a new WWE 2K game has dropped to help hype up the event. WWE 2K26 largely sticks to the playbook from previous games, adding iterative changes to the gameplay formula, addressing several criticisms, and offering a high-quality recreation of watching mountains of muscle slam into each other with the force of a localised tornado.

That’s not entirely a bad thing, as WWE 2K26 is still a good-looking game with a stacked roster of WWE superstars and new modes, as well as a showcase dedicated to the greatest rebel in the company’s history, CM Punk. It’s a tempting package for newcomers, but if you’ve picked up any WWE 2K game in the last couple of years, WWE 2K26 might be a harder sell than a Seth Rollins injury angle.

What is new this year are the Inferno, Dumpster, I Quit, and 3 Stages of Hell modes, adding some new hardcore variety to the mix with some brutal match stipulations. The Dumpster match isn’t too different from a casket bout, but the I Quit match is a treat thanks to the incorporation of a clever minigame that makes it increasingly difficult not to submit as your chosen wrestler accrues more damage.

Other improvements include some of the best and most dynamic match commentary to date, and some massive improvements to the game’s presentation. Combat has also been slightly shaken up with a new stamina system, which is used to create a tug-of-war between superstars as they juggle fatigue with high-risk moves. Basically, pulling off too many moves too quickly will leave your superstar in a tired state, unable to use reversals until they catch their second wind. It’s an interesting idea, as it essentially adds a finite resource to each match that you have to carefully manage.

While there are still some technical hiccups, having a roster of over 400 WWE superstars from across the ages competing to reach the top of the industry never gets old. I wish the same could be said for CM Punk’s Showcase mode, as the annual trip down memory lane with the self-proclaimed Best In the World is a mixed bag at best.

For the uninitiated, Punk has been involved in several of the best WWE storylines ever since he joined the company, left it under a storm of real-life controversy, and then eventually made a comeback, following a turbulent run in WWE rival promotion All Elite Wrestling. While previous Showcase modes have been highlight reels focused on a wrestler’s career, several of Punk’s greatest hits–like his infamous Pipe Bomb promo–are missing in action, with those gaps filled instead with fantasy bouts. When you’re only covering Punk’s final year with the WWE during his first run, and his current run, there’s not a lot of meat on that narrative bone.

This year’s MyRise follows a similar trajectory. The rags-to-riches mode, where your custom wrestler goes from rookie sensation to main event superstar, is okay at best and an absolute grind the rest of the time. The story is boring, and the mode forces you to wrestle unnecessary matches before you make progress–possibly to help you grab some rewards through the Ringside Pass. That’s right, WWE 2K26 has a battle pass now, and, as you’d expect, it features the usual free and premium tiers, with each level unlocked by earning XP from any activity in the game. Progressing through it will earn you cosmetics, XP boosts, and MyFaction Cards, but it’s just another layer of monetisation that 2K games are notorious for.

Meanwhile, WWE 2K26’s social hub, The Island, doesn’t fare much better in its sophomore year as an extra game mode. It’s a lumberjack match at its core, but instead of being stuck in a ring surrounded by an army of burly brutes, you’re facing some of the most predatory microtransactions I’ve ever seen in a video game. It’s less of an incentive to build a superstar who interacts with real-life WWE performers, and more like a dystopian shopping mall taken to the extreme as you square off against an onslaught of adverts urging you to drop some cash on new cosmetics.

These problems are compounded by the island’s few playable modes being a mix of stale matches as you interact with top superstars like Rhea Ripley and Cody Rhodes. Throw in half-baked roguelike bouts, and the Island is one destination you’ll want to avoid–or at least keep your credit card out of reach lest your bank balance be subjected to a Three Stages of Microtransation Hell match. 

Other modes, like MyGM, are a far better option for stepping outside of the squared circle and taking on a managerial role, but at this point in the game, it doesn’t have any real new tricks up its proverbial sleeve. The simulator remains fun but familiar, and the same can largely be said for MyUniverse and MyFaction. On the plus side, WWE 2K26’s character creation modes remain as enjoyable as ever, thanks to the strong selection of options you can use to build a truly bizarre-looking superstar and set them loose on the WWE Universe.

WWE 2K26 released on 13 March 13 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series consoles, and has also been ported to Nintendo Switch 2.