We’re coming up on WrestleMania, and the new entry in the WWE 2K franchise is here to help build the hype. Over the past two years that I’ve been looking at these games, I’ve seen the series getting better in a lot of ways. This continues in 2K25, but this year’s offering is not without its problems and red flags.
2K25 brings with it a number of new additions, including a semi-open world mode called The Island. To break it down, this is very similar to Street Fighter 6’s World Tour mode. Create your character, and land on the Island of Relevancy, presided over by the Tribal Chief himself, Roman Reigns. You’re competing for a WWE contract and, perhaps, a chance to join The Bloodline.
Like SF6’s World Tour mode, there is a lot to do. Compete in matches with varying win conditions, upgrade your character, and interact with the other competitors by speaking to them, or through text and video messages.
I like the concept of these modes, it’s a great way of building up a created character in a way that ties you into the WWE mythos. My experience with it, though, wasn’t very positive. Playing on an Xbox Series S has a lot of random stutter, making moving around annoying. During matches, though, there’s no problem. It’s just navigating around where the problems lie. It likely has to do with the avatars spawning in and out, if I had to guess.
What’s confusing is that this mode is not available on the PC. The most powerful platform doesn’t have this mode. Why? This is one decision I just can’t understand, and relegates that version to second-class status. Granted, The Island could be added in via a post launch update, but the omission is noticeable.
So if you’ve wanted a more immersive way of interacting with a WWE story, this is definitely something you should check out.
While The Island is the big tentpole feature of this year’s offering, there is a whole lot more added and changed.
Intergender matches are now possible. You could pit Dominik Mysterio against Rhea Ripley, if you so choose. Dragon Lee vs. Liv Morgan? Go for it! The combinations are vast, though there are some modes in which you’re still limited. For the most part, though, this is a really cool addition, and brings it on par with AEW’s offering in that way.
Every year the development team makes tweaks and refinements to the gameplay. This year is no exception. I’m finding that not all of these tweaks are to my liking, though.
Chain wrestling makes a return this year, something when seen on TV is a masterful showcase of technique. When played in-game though, with the minigame, it just feels unsatisfying. This is my first red flag. We’re now adding in mechanics to broaden the simulation of the sport of professional wrestling, but in doing so, we’re also adding more layers of complexity to a game that is already teetering on the edge of being too complex.
Some of these mechanics, including chain wrestling can be turned off in the gameplay options, but not all of them. So it is possible to tailor the gameplay to your tastes. This is a feature I greatly appreciate and need to use, as many of the minigames associated with these mechanics do not account for people with low vision.
The thing is, if I have to turn these mechanics off just to enjoy the game, am I really playing the same game as everyone else? I don’t think so, but I don’t really know of a good solution, other than simplifying or outright removing the minigames.
Unfortunately for me, the game has zero accessibility options. No text adjustments, no ability to make prompts easier to see, nothing. There have been many complaints over the years about these very issues, and nothing has changed. So, at this point, I’m just going to just have to enjoy WWE games in another way, because the actual wrestling part of them is leaving me behind.
This is another red flag, as I’ve found posts dating back to 2K23 raising accessibility issues that have not been addressed in any way. I don’t think it is because they don’t want to make the game more approachable. I think it has more to do with the need to continually make big additions to the series each year, and things for a niche, albeit important one, fall by the wayside. This sort of pressure is what led to the series needing to be rebooted in the first place, so they really need to be careful here.
That cuts out a large chunk of the game, but there are two modes in particular that still appeal to me. The Classic Universe Sandbox, and MyGM. I’m more of a behind-the-scenes guy in real life, so maybe that’s why these two modes appeal to me so much.
MyGM’s kayfabe approach to things is appealing to live the fiction, while Universe’s sandbox mode lets you get into the weeds. I love both of these modes, and find that most of the time I spent with the game was there. Being able to spectate matches is also nice, since if I can’t play them myself, at least I can see how the booking decisions I made play out in real-time.
Feeding into those two modes is WWE 2K25’s creation suite. As strong as it’s ever been, if you can visualize it, it’s likely you can make it happen in the game. If you’ve got no artistic talent, on the other hand, the community creations section has a massive stock of Superstars and Assets that you can download and play with. To really drill down you’ll have to search against custom hashtags, but it isn’t too difficult to find what you’re looking for, ensuring that your Universe can be whatever you want it to be.
There is still one thing that could improve the creation suite if Visual Concepts could figure out how to make it happen. Being able to move created content forward from one game to another. As it is, you have to create everything over again whenever a new game comes along. If there was a way to have the game look back at the older files and bring them in, that would not only save a lot of time, but ensure that the best creations are always available. It’s wishful thinking, of course, but it would be a huge quality of life feature should it ever happen.
Despite the fact that the main wrestling gameplay is getting to the point I can no longer compete, I am still finding a good deal to enjoy in WWE 2K25. I do hope the team can make an effort to listen to the feedback of those with low vision and add options in the next game to make it more playable. For me, though, what I love most is the management side of things, and I am more than well served by what the team has put forth here. That said, the signs of bloat are popping up now, and we’ll have to see how things evolve over this coming year.
We’re coming up on WrestleMania, and the new entry in the WWE 2K franchise is here to help build the hype. Over the past two years that I’ve been looking at these games, I’ve seen the series getting better in…
We’re coming up on WrestleMania, and the new entry in the WWE 2K franchise is here to help build the hype. Over the past two years that I’ve been looking at these games, I’ve seen the series getting better in a lot of ways. This continues in 2K25, but this year’s offering is not without its problems and red flags.
2K25 brings with it a number of new additions, including a semi-open world mode called The Island. To break it down, this is very similar to Street Fighter 6’s World Tour mode. Create your character, and land on the Island of Relevancy, presided over by the Tribal Chief himself, Roman Reigns. You’re competing for a WWE contract and, perhaps, a chance to join The Bloodline.
Like SF6’s World Tour mode, there is a lot to do. Compete in matches with varying win conditions, upgrade your character, and interact with the other competitors by speaking to them, or through text and video messages.
I like the concept of these modes, it’s a great way of building up a created character in a way that ties you into the WWE mythos. My experience with it, though, wasn’t very positive. Playing on an Xbox Series S has a lot of random stutter, making moving around annoying. During matches, though, there’s no problem. It’s just navigating around where the problems lie. It likely has to do with the avatars spawning in and out, if I had to guess.
What’s confusing is that this mode is not available on the PC. The most powerful platform doesn’t have this mode. Why? This is one decision I just can’t understand, and relegates that version to second-class status. Granted, The Island could be added in via a post launch update, but the omission is noticeable.
So if you’ve wanted a more immersive way of interacting with a WWE story, this is definitely something you should check out.
While The Island is the big tentpole feature of this year’s offering, there is a whole lot more added and changed.
Intergender matches are now possible. You could pit Dominik Mysterio against Rhea Ripley, if you so choose. Dragon Lee vs. Liv Morgan? Go for it! The combinations are vast, though there are some modes in which you’re still limited. For the most part, though, this is a really cool addition, and brings it on par with AEW’s offering in that way.
Every year the development team makes tweaks and refinements to the gameplay. This year is no exception. I’m finding that not all of these tweaks are to my liking, though.
Chain wrestling makes a return this year, something when seen on TV is a masterful showcase of technique. When played in-game though, with the minigame, it just feels unsatisfying. This is my first red flag. We’re now adding in mechanics to broaden the simulation of the sport of professional wrestling, but in doing so, we’re also adding more layers of complexity to a game that is already teetering on the edge of being too complex.
Some of these mechanics, including chain wrestling can be turned off in the gameplay options, but not all of them. So it is possible to tailor the gameplay to your tastes. This is a feature I greatly appreciate and need to use, as many of the minigames associated with these mechanics do not account for people with low vision.
The thing is, if I have to turn these mechanics off just to enjoy the game, am I really playing the same game as everyone else? I don’t think so, but I don’t really know of a good solution, other than simplifying or outright removing the minigames.
Unfortunately for me, the game has zero accessibility options. No text adjustments, no ability to make prompts easier to see, nothing. There have been many complaints over the years about these very issues, and nothing has changed. So, at this point, I’m just going to just have to enjoy WWE games in another way, because the actual wrestling part of them is leaving me behind.
This is another red flag, as I’ve found posts dating back to 2K23 raising accessibility issues that have not been addressed in any way. I don’t think it is because they don’t want to make the game more approachable. I think it has more to do with the need to continually make big additions to the series each year, and things for a niche, albeit important one, fall by the wayside. This sort of pressure is what led to the series needing to be rebooted in the first place, so they really need to be careful here.
That cuts out a large chunk of the game, but there are two modes in particular that still appeal to me. The Classic Universe Sandbox, and MyGM. I’m more of a behind-the-scenes guy in real life, so maybe that’s why these two modes appeal to me so much.
MyGM’s kayfabe approach to things is appealing to live the fiction, while Universe’s sandbox mode lets you get into the weeds. I love both of these modes, and find that most of the time I spent with the game was there. Being able to spectate matches is also nice, since if I can’t play them myself, at least I can see how the booking decisions I made play out in real-time.
Feeding into those two modes is WWE 2K25’s creation suite. As strong as it’s ever been, if you can visualize it, it’s likely you can make it happen in the game. If you’ve got no artistic talent, on the other hand, the community creations section has a massive stock of Superstars and Assets that you can download and play with. To really drill down you’ll have to search against custom hashtags, but it isn’t too difficult to find what you’re looking for, ensuring that your Universe can be whatever you want it to be.
There is still one thing that could improve the creation suite if Visual Concepts could figure out how to make it happen. Being able to move created content forward from one game to another. As it is, you have to create everything over again whenever a new game comes along. If there was a way to have the game look back at the older files and bring them in, that would not only save a lot of time, but ensure that the best creations are always available. It’s wishful thinking, of course, but it would be a huge quality of life feature should it ever happen.
Despite the fact that the main wrestling gameplay is getting to the point I can no longer compete, I am still finding a good deal to enjoy in WWE 2K25. I do hope the team can make an effort to listen to the feedback of those with low vision and add options in the next game to make it more playable. For me, though, what I love most is the management side of things, and I am more than well served by what the team has put forth here. That said, the signs of bloat are popping up now, and we’ll have to see how things evolve over this coming year.
by Filippo Dinolfo
