Such server closure is hardly surprising for sports titles, though WWE 2K22 will be less than two years old when its online support is gone. Of course, WWE 2K23’s servers are still up, so those who want to continue playing online will be encouraged to upgrade. Check out our review for the sequel here.

WWE 2K22 is available for Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S. It was the first new game in the series after the disastrous WWE 2K20 and saw the return of Universe Mode and GM Mode (now called MyGM). New features like MyFACTION and a revamped Showcase mode also helped draw fans in. As for the franchise’s future, stay tuned for potential announcements in the coming months.

Attention WWE 2K community:
WWE 2K22 servers will be discontinued as of January 3rd, 2024.

All online modes & functions, including online matches & community Creations, will no longer be available.

Now is the perfect time to upgrade to #WWE2K23
Thank you for all the support! pic.twitter.com/jRF6s73bLO

— #WWE2K24 (@WWEgames) September 29, 2023

Check out the range of titles coming to both Extra and Premium:

• Adventure Time Pirates of the Enchiridion (PS4)
• Ben 10: Power Trip (PS5, PS4)
• The Escapists 2 (PS4)
• Evil Genius 2: World Domination (PS5, PS4)
• Far Cry 5 (PS4)
• Far Cry New Dawn (PS4)
• Far Cry Primal (PS4)
• Gigantosaurus The Game (PS4)
• Judgment (PS5, PS4)
• Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4)
• Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (PS4)
• Mortal Shell (PS5, PS4)
• The Pedestrian (PS5, PS4)
• Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire – Ultimate Edition (PS4)
• WWE 2K22 (PS4)
• Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (PS4)
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon (PS5, PS4)
• Worms W.M.D (PS4)

Some heavy hitters include Judgment and Yakuza: Like a Dragon, playable on PS5 and PS4. Far Cry 5 and New Dawn may also be worth jumping into, while Far Cry Primal offers a prehistoric spin on the series’ open-world gameplay.

Premium subscribers also get new Classic titles this month, including Pinball Heroes and Ridge Racer 2 on the PlayStation Portable. Oddworld: Abe’s Exoddus on the PlayStation One and Ninja Theory’s Heavenly Sword on PS3 are also being added. For more details on the free titles offered with PlayStation Plus Essential, head here.

PlayStation Plus Extra is available for $14.99 monthly and $99.99 yearly. PlayStation Plus Premium costs $17.99 monthly and $119.99 yearly. Stay tuned for more details on future additions to both tiers in the coming weeks.

With the removal of the older WWE 2K games, the only WWE games available on Steam right now is this year’s release, WWE 2K22, along with WWE 2K Battlegrounds.

The removal of these games is likely related to 2K’s licensing agreements with WWE. With the professional wrestling company going through massive roster overhauls on an almost-yearly basis, it is likely that several of the de-listed games’ roster members are no longer covered under the licensing agreements between 2K and WWE.

WWE 2K22 has been the most well-liked game in the franchise for a while now, and for more details, you can check out our review where we gave the game a score of 8 out of 10. The game is currently going through its post-release cycle with regular DLC releases and game updates.

For WWE 2K22, in terms of units sold in the United States, it had the best first month of any title in the WWE 2K franchise (based on The NPD Group’s March 2022 data). Over 5.6 million hours of content has been viewed on Twitch while more than 140 million matches have been played in-game. NBA 2K22 was also a big winner for Visual Concepts, selling 10 million copies till date.

Net revenue for the fourth quarter hit $930 million, which is up by 11 percent, while net income was $111 million, down by 49 percent. Bookings for the quarter hit $846 million, an eight percent increase. Net revenue for the full year hit $3.51 billion, which is a four percent increase, while net income was at $418 million, dropping by 29 percent. However, the year’s net bookings were $3.4 billion, dropping by four percent, while recurrent consumer spending fell by six percent.

As for Q1 FY 2023, Take Two Interactive projected $700 to $750 million in net bookings. It expects Grand Theft Auto 5, GTA Online, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead Online, NBA 2K22, WWE 2K22 and The Quarry to be the biggest contributors.

The WWE 2K22 – Banzai Pack DLC is adding more WWE Legends such as Yokozuna and Rikishi, “The Samoan Bulldozer” Umaga, WWE Raw Superstar Omos, and up-and-coming NXT star Kacy Catanzaro. Additionally, the new DLC also comes with a MyFACTION EVO card for each new Superstar, which can be upgraded by playing the MyFACTION mode.

The Banzai Pack DLC can be purchased separately starting now, or can be downloaded if one owns the season pass for the game. Check out its trailer below.

WWE 2K22 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Headlining the list of changes is most definitely the addition of the NXT 2.0 Arena, complete with all supporting broadcasts. Additionally, WWE 2K22‘s PC version now includes graphics options to fine-tune the experience on a variety of configurations. On top of all this, there are updates and changes to Superstar movesets, performance improvements in MyGM mode, changes to the superstar creation suite, and much more.

WWE 2K22 has been a solid return to form for the long-running series, but it isn’t without its flaws – including but not limited to its microtransaction-fueled online modes. Thanks to an extra year of development, it’s easily one of the most solid and content-rich entries the wrestling franchise has seen in quite a while though- read our thoughts on the game by clicking through here.

Patch Notes:

GENERAL

• Full NXT 2.0 Arena and supporting broadcast packages are in-game!
• Added game-wide options for graphics settings on PC (Extras/Graphics Options)

GAMEPLAY

• Polished hundreds of Superstar interactions to improve alignment, registration, and impact
• Addressed reported concerns of players losing functionality when interacting with objects at ringside
• Added support for reversals for several moves
• Addressed reported concerns of players getting stuck backstage
• Addressed reported concerns of players getting stuck on the chamber in an Elimination Chamber match
• Updated movesets for various Superstars
• Improved referee pathing and behaviors
• Improved alignment on various dives and springboards
• Adjusted stun duration during matches
• Adjusted the damage on several moves that were failing to deal damage
• Added various moves to Signature and Finisher move categories
• Increased attack speed for chair and stop sign weapons
• AI uses more positional variety in the corner, such as Top Rope Stunned
• Improved logic for AI to execute contextual Finishers such as Catching, 1v2, and Announce Table Finishers
• General Tag Team AI improvements including less frequent pin breaks and more frequent pin defense
• AI will now utilize the Ladder Bridge outside of Ladder Matches
• Improved AI strategy for countering Running attacks
• Improved AI strategy for stunning opponents
• Improved AI logic during certain run-in sequences
• Improved AI pathing and attack selection when in a crowded ring

MyGM

• Tag team titles are now supported for Normal and Hard difficulty
• The match card size for Normal and Hard difficulty has been expanded
• Improved AI
• General performance improvements

ONLINE

• Entrances can now be enabled in online lobbies
• Improved performance when joining or leaving lobbies
• Improved performance in downloading items from Community Creations
• Added DLC Superstar hashtag search options in Community Creations
• Various improvements to online gameplay experience
• Improved performance when previewing content in Community Creations

CHARACTER

• Improved skin and eyes for various Superstars
• Updated character likenesses for various Superstars
• Improved CAS part combinations
• General hair updates and improvements

CREATE

• Improved performance and stability within all create modes
• Data cleanup throughout all create modes
• Improved compatibility between many custom arena stage parts
• Improved camera angles in Create an Arena and Create A Superstar
• Improved graphical fidelity of custom championships
• Updated template data for arena templates
• Added information for elements of Create a Moveset moves
• Added the “Facing Ringside” category in “Top Rope Taunts”
• Improved compatibility between hundreds of different CAS parts
• Improved functionality of hair dye color tool
• Improved ability for players to apply images to CAS parts
• Improved randomization consistency on superstars with fixed masks
• Added multiple correct crowd signs for various Superstars
• Improved consistency of unlocking purchased CAS parts
• Improved consistency of thumbnails throughout Create A Superstar
• Addressed reported concerns with swapping partners in a tag team match

AUDIO

• Improved sfx and music performance on entrances, including reported concerns related to the “Fiendish” CAE entrance
• Improved the sound design on some moves
• Updated outdated references in commentary
• Added updated commentary references to reflect recent real world changes
• Improved commentary for non high risk moves
• Improved consistency of commentary calling Superstars’ moves properly
• Added more sounds to championship belt intro wipes
• Added more RA calls for various championships
• Cleaned up the music list for Create modes

UNIVERSE

• Improved stability throughout Universe
• Universe data cleanup and updates
• Improved Superstar naming consistency
• Improved UI flows and visuals
• Updated custom portrait formatting
• Normalized store credit earnings with gameplay
• Improved MITB cash-in save data performance
• Added the ability to disable run-ins after editing a match
• Added custom championship names to division screen
• Improved Superstar portrait compatibility on 8-player matches
• Improved consistency of Superstar run-ins in storylines
• Adjusted custom arena match rules to more closely match those in gameplay
• Superstars are now correctly assigned to their respective brands

MyFACTION

• Improved reward icon visibility for weekly Evo challenges
• Addressed reported concerns regarding an exploit connected to weapon baiting in Faction Wars
• Added MyFACTION nWo Standalone cards

WWE 2K22’s patch 1.06 focuses mainly on fixes related to the general performance of the game, such as improving stability, various cutscene improvements for MyRise mode, improved hair and skin shaders, improved memory management, and a lot more.

The online experience, which the player base has been requesting the development team to improve, has also been tweaked through this update, with improvements to stability. Meanwhile,

WWE 2K22 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. You can check out the full patch notes for update 1.06 below.

WWE 2K22 UPDATE 1.06

GENERAL

• General stability and performance improvements
• Various cutscene improvements for MyRise
• Improved hair/CAS part interactions
• Improved skin and eye shaders for various Superstars
• Updated character likenesses of various Superstars
• Improved texture blending and materials on 100s of hair models
• Changed the maximum number of favorite creators to 50
• Implemented criteria for nWo standalone bonus content
• Improved memory management of large numbers of logos when navigating multiple game modes and menus
• Increased array limit for logos to accommodate large numbers of downloaded logos
• Added and removed NG tags to improve CAS part combinations
• General hair updates and improvements
• General tattoo updates and improvements

GAMEPLAY

• Addressed reported concerns where enemies might take low or no damage in specific engagements
• Various prop and arena interaction improvements
• Various cage collision improvements
• Improved superstar AI in special circumstances in tag matches
• Improved dive attacks vs. ladders
• Improved ladder dismounts
• Improved Superstar ally interactions in tag team steel cage matches
• Improved finisher reversals during run-ins
• Updated pyro in some entrances
• Improved logo/embossing interactions in Create a Championship
• Addressed reported concerns related to poses and Superstar registration during some reversals
• Improved interactions with steel steps when they are placed in the ring
• Improved Superstar interactions with ropes
• Addressed reported concerns related to Spear 2 attack while referee is close to defender
• Improved elimination behavior in Royal Rumble
• Improved taunt buffs and meter gain from Submission loops
• Improved Royal Rumble elimination setups by AI
• Improved Superstar AI in special circumstances in tag matches
• Tuned downtime values for some moves
• Tuned rollout recovery times
• Increased difficulty of button mash pin kickout when more than two finishers have been received
• Increased illegal tag team stun duration for long tag matches
• Addressed reported concerns of exploits where certain finishers could not be reversed
• Tuned homing for Sweet Chin Music 
• Tuned elimination difficulty in Royal Rumble when less than 3 Superstars are in the ring
• Tuned stun duration in relation to permadamage
• Addressed reported concerns with Austin Theory’s finisher

ONLINE

• General stability improvements
• Addressed reported concerns with abandoned lobbies
• Improved lobby performance with partial AI-populated matches
• Addressed reported concerns with long (15+ match) online sessions
• Improved performance of custom portraits in online lobbies

MyFACTION

• Improved reward icon visibility for weekly Evo challenges
• Addressed reported concerns regarding an exploit connected to weapon baiting in Faction Wars
• Added MyFACTION nWo Standalone cards

Elden Ring is in second place with sales dropping by 25 percent week-on-week, followed by WWE 2K22 in third. The former saw its sales drop by 44 percent. Interestingly, thanks to a number of promotions on Nintendo Switch titles, games like Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury rose to fifth and sixth place respectively. Pokemon Shining Pearl, meanwhile, re-entered the charts at ninth.

Metroid Prime also did well in 14th place and is now the third biggest selling title in the series based purely on physical sales. As for Mario Kart 8: Deluxe, it actually fell out of the top ten into 11th place due to a 20 percent drop in sales. Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin debuted in eighth place with 73 percent of sales coming from PS5, 18 percent from PS4 and nine percent from Xbox.

Check out Gfk’s top ten best-selling titles in the UK for the week ending March 19th below.

In second place, we have a new release, with WWE 2K22 making its debut, seeing 43% of its sales on PS5, 29% on PS4, 17% on Xbox One, and 11% on Xbox Series X/S. The game has, however, managed 32% lower physical sales at launch than WWE 2K20 did when it released- though it’s worth remember, as always, that digital sales have seen a dramatic increase in marketshare over the last couple of years especially. 

Elden Ring, meanwhile, gets pushed down to No. 3, while Horizon Forbidden West and Pokemon Legends: Arceus follow in fourth and fifth place respectively. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok also made it into the charts, but failed to get into the top 10, slotting in at No. 12. 

You can check out the full top 10 for the week ending March 12 below.

Immediately upon booting WWE 2K22, you are greeted with a tutorial match that takes you through the basics of wrestling. Gone are the overtly complex combos of buttons, and taking their place is a simple and effective button layout. On PlayStation 5, the square button is used for light attacks, the cross button for heavy attacks, and the circle button for grapples. You can use any permutations and combinations of the three buttons to achieve different results. Reversal comes in two ways – using the triangle button in a short time frame to parry or pressing the appropriate heavy or light attack button when tussled in a grapple.

"Gone are the overtly complex combos of buttons, and taking their place is a simple and effective button layout."

In a similar vein, the health and stamina system is also simplified. Executing successful moves while maintaining some decent variety will fill up a three-segmented special meter. Once two bars are full, you can execute a special Payback move or you could pummel down your enemy until the meter gets fully charged to unleash the character’s finisher. It’s an effective and simple control scheme that works well within the context of the game and it manages to do so without putting the unneeded strain of remembering a bazillion button inputs – making it a lot more inviting to newcomers than prior entries in the franchise. Much like previous entries in 2K’s franchise, WWE 2K22 is chock-full of varied wrestling content for players to fulfill all their fighting desires. Players can battle out in a range of modes including anywhere from a standard 1v1 to Royal Rumble to Hell in a Cell and what have you.

However, the biggest highlight is definitely the returning 2K Showcase mode. It’s a tribute to the legendary cruiserweight champion Rey Mysterio as he makes his way in wrestling beginning from a nobody in the Mexican wrestling circle to facing the biggest superstars that RAW and SMACKDOWN have to offer. Players get to partake in many of Rey’s career-defining matches, each starting with a history lesson from the man himself about what matches meant to him, his opponents, and his career. The showcase matches require you to execute the same moves as he did in those matches as objectives. Upon completion, the gameplay neatly transitions to actual footage of the match – which makes these matches immersive. Completing them will net you rewards such as Superstar and arena unlocks, and additional attires. However, limitations on character moves in these matches can make them frustrating at times – especially if you jump into this mode straight away as I did. On the flip side, you do get to explore the entire width of a superstar’s moves – which will be beneficial when you move on to other modes.

" The 2k Showcase mode is a tribute to the legendary cruiserweight champion Rey Mysterio as he makes his way in wrestling beginning from a nobody in the Mexican wrestling circle to facing the biggest superstars that RAW and SMACKDOWN have to offer."

Another returning mode is the MyGM mode. In MyGM, you will be assuming the role of a general manager at either RAW, SMACKDOWN, or NXT. As the General Manager, it’s up to you to select superstars from a roster and book matches amongst them to run the show on a weekly basis on a strict budget. The main objective is to garner more fans for events like Wrestlemania and before the season ends. You will need to pair superstars with a positive persona against those with negative ones, giants against cruiserweights, and so on and so forth. You can also hire legendary superstars such as the likes of The Rock, John Cena, Brock Lesnar for a handsome amount to gain traction. As the season progresses, rivalries and relationships amongst the superstars will develop accordingly – and it’s your job to thrive off of them by booking those matches on the prime spot. Should you want to make these matches even more tense, you are free to play as the superstar of your choice instead of simulating the match.

It’s a fun and neat little mode that’s markedly different from others on offer, although it won’t likely be interesting enough for casual fans who want to engage with it in the long term. The biggest problem I encountered in this mode was the menus glitching out constantly, which made making selections, which by the way forms the majority of the gameplay in this mode, an exercise in pain.

"MyGM a fun and neat little mode that’s markedly different from others on offer, although it won’t likely be interesting enough for casual fans who want to engage with it in the long term."

Then there’s MyRise, a standard career mode where you create your custom superstar and undertake a journey from the bottom. There are multiple life paths to choose from such as the likes of an entertainment actor or an underdog wrestler. You will be interacting with a ton of fellow wrestlers, and choosing different dialogues will impact your public persona and your relationships with them.

Character progression involves investing points into your character points tree, which you get by completing storylines – which are basically quests such as taking part in a match against an iconic superstar. The whole system is not as fleshed out as a full-fledged RPG, but it’s serviceable for the job and a big step up from past offerings. And then we have the MyFaction which is an online mode where players have to grind out star cards (or pay up for virtual currency required to obtain those cards) to make their rosters more powerful. I haven’t spent time playing this particular mode, so I am reserving my judgment for the time being. However, given the micro-transaction-fueled nature of this mode, fans should exercise caution.

"Unfortunately for WWE 2K22, the game suffers from underwhelming visual presentation with embarrassing dialogues, hilarious facial animations, and other graphical glitches topping the list of technical inefficiencies."

Unfortunately for WWE 2K22, the game suffers from underwhelming visual presentation with embarrassing dialogues, hilarious facial animations, and other graphical glitches topping the list of technical inefficiencies. These problems have existed for a long time with the WWE 2K games, and it’s sad that an engine overhaul does very little to address these issues. On the other hand, the soundtrack curated by Machine Gun Kelly is composed of a sizable collection of appropriately headbanging tunes, tucking all the heavy strings to the adrenaline-fueled entertainment sport.

Looking at the big picture, WWE 2K22 is a much-needed improvement over the disastrous WWE 2K20. The revamped control scheme makes this entry a lot more inviting to newcomers, and the Showcase mode is a great nostalgia trip for fans of the sport. The returning MyGM mode has surprisingly deep simulation gameplay, but it caters to a very niche audience. However, underwhelming visual presentation and other glitches remain an issue with the latest entry – but it has a solid enough foundation for what’s to come in the future.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.