WWE 2K22 arrived on March 11, 2022, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Visual Concepts developed it. 2K published it. It is the twenty-second overall WWE game and the eighth under the WWE 2K banner, following 2019’s WWE 2K20.
The series needed a clean win. WWE 2K22 gets one, mostly.
Trailer, via WWE 2K.
Rey Mysterio Carries Showcase
The old 2K Showcase is now just Showcase, and it belongs to cover star Rey Mysterio. Players work through his career, from the WCW Halloween Havoc 1997 match against Eddie Guerrero — Mysterio wrestling as Rey Mysterio Jr. for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship — to the Payback 2020 tag match where he and son Dominik Mysterio faced Seth Rollins and Murphy.
Progress unlocks new characters, attires and arenas. The mode also blends in-game action with real footage. A SummerSlam 2009 match between Mysterio and Dolph Ziggler, shown at IGN Fan Fest 2022, used that transition, blurred the referee’s face, and paired Greg Hamilton’s in-game ring announcing with archived audio. Earlier games re-recorded commentary instead.
MyRISE Splits the Story
MyCareer is now MyRISE, and it runs separate storylines for male and female wrestlers. Created characters form alliances, make enemies, and branch into subplots based on player choices. The mode drops the Advance Entrance option for custom entrances, leaving only Easy Entrance.
MyFACTION Builds a Collection
The new MyFACTION mode asks players to collect, manage and upgrade WWE wrestlers into a stable, with regular updates and weekly events. Its player cards pull from across WWE history. Universe Mode returns with updates of its own, including camera angle changes while spectating matches.
- MyRISE: separate male and female stories
- Showcase: Rey Mysterio’s career, with unlockable characters, attires and arenas
- MyFACTION: card collecting, stables, weekly events
- Universe Mode: updated, with spectating camera controls
Release Schedule
| Date | Release |
|---|---|
| March 11, 2022 | WWE 2K22 (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) |
| March 14, 2023 | WWE 2K23 |
Where It Lands
The Showcase is the strongest argument for WWE 2K22. The Mysterio career gives the mode a throughline the series has often lacked, and the real-footage transitions are a genuine step rather than a coat of paint. MyRISE splitting its stories is the right call, even if the branch-heavy structure is doing a lot of work to hide familiar ground.
MyFACTION is the piece to watch. Card collecting with weekly events is a live-service shape, and how it is supported over time will matter more than how it plays at launch. That is a promise, not a result.
The removal of the Advance Entrance option is a small loss that will annoy the creation crowd. Easy Entrance only is a cut, not a feature.
A Recovery Year
WWE 2K22 is a recovery year done well. It does not reinvent the wrestling game, but after WWE 2K20 it did not need to. It needed to be competent, deep and on time. It is all three.
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