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Though it flew under the radar, WWE 2K16 had a presence at E3 2015. It was during E3 that 2K Sports revealed the first six wrestlers confirmed for the upcoming game's roster, including Bad News Barrett, Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Finn Balor, Paige, and current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins.

Usually concrete information on WWE titles don't see the light of day until August, typically coinciding with WWE's signature summer pay-per-view event, SummerSlam. However, this year 2K has begun releasing tidbits early, like the E3 2015 roster reveal, for example. Now, over a month away from SummerSlam, 2K has confirmed the seventh member of the WWE 2K16 roster, a wrestler that will pull double duty as the game's cover athlete.

Veteran WWE fans should be excited to know that the legendary wrestler "Stone Cold" Steve Austin will be featured on the cover of WWE 2K16 when it releases this coming October. Austin joins the likes of John Cena and The Rock as wrestlers to have graced the cover of a WWE game since 2K acquired the license from THQ a couple of years back.

"I look forward to injecting a dose of 'Texas Rattlesnake' into this year’s game and overall campaign," Austin said in regards to his inclusion in the game and his role as WWE 2K16's cover athlete. Austin's role in WWE 2K16 extends beyond simply being the featured star, however. According to 2K, Austin will even be contributing to the title in a creative capacity.

Austin's inclusion in WWE 2K16 provides some hints as to the direction the game is going to take. Considering that "Stone Cold" is probably the most pivotal star of the famous Attitude Era in the WWE, it's highly likely that the game will have a focus on the late 90's and early 2000's years of the company. This is not necessarily new ground for the WWE series, as WWE '13 was built entirely around the Attitude Era, but this would be the first time that the Attitude Era was covered thoroughly since the franchise moved from THQ to 2K.

Austin joins the six previously announced wrestlers in what is said to be the largest roster in franchise history, with over 120 superstars planned for the final release. That being said, 2K has padded the rosters in the past by including multiple versions of the same wrestler, so it remains to be seen if they'll actually be able to live up to such a lofty promise. However, if the game is indeed set during the Attitude Era, that opens the door for a huge number of potential wrestlers to be included in the final product.

Expect the rest of the roster to be revealed shortly, most likely around SummerSlam next month. The first gameplay footage should be dropping sooner rather than later as well, so it's probable that speculation over the game's contents can soon be laid to rest.

What do you want from WWE 2K16? Are you excited at the potential to yet again revisit the adored Attitude Era? Let us know in the comments.

WWE 2K16 will be available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One beginning October 27th.

Source: WWE