WWE 2K is coming back in 2022, hoping to reverse course on building frustrations with the wrestling game franchise for some time. After taking 2021 off without a new release, the first the series has done so, WWE 2K22 is confirmed. To help build up hype, WWE and 2K are involving fans in the process, at least to a degree. Wednesday morning WWE announced the results of a fan vote to decide which wrestlers would adorn the covers of WWE 2K22.
WWE 2K22 will feature two different covers, it seems. In a post shared on Twitter, the WWEonFOX account confirmed that RAW's Drew McIntyre will be the male cover superstar for WWE 2K22. The female cover superstar, on the other hand, will be SmackDown's Sasha Banks. Rather than one cover featuring both a man and a woman like with WWE 2K20's Roman Reigns and Becky Lynch, WWE 2K22 will feature two separate covers each with their own superstar.
For those curious how the two cover stars were decided on, the WWEonFOX account says that a vote was taken. Going back through the account's history, it seems that on February 4, the account asked fans "Which Superstar would you put on the @WWE 2K22 cover?" Apparently, this was an official poll, despite WWE 2K22 not being revealed until Wrestlemania 37 in April and no poll being attached to the tweet.
Regardless, the responses to that initial poll were full of a diverse range of picks. McIntyre, who was still the WWE Champion, and Sasha Banks, who was still the Women's SmackDown Champion, are both well-represented in fans' responses. Reigns and Lynch, too, received many votes. Undertaker, Seth Rollins, The Fiend, Edge, and even Adam Cole picked up quite a few votes, too. While it may not have been clear it was an official vote, fans still turned out for their favorite WWE wrestlers.
It's not entirely clear if WWE used fans' responses to decide the WWE 2K22 cover stars. For example, it's unlikely that Roman Reigns or Becky Lynch would be made the cover stars again even if they won the vote. Still, there's no argument that McIntyre and Banks are stars of their respective shows on WWE.
As for WWE 2K22 itself, having the covers revealed is a lot of fun, but for fans, it's likely to make the wait for gameplay being shown all the more nerve-wracking. WWE 2K20 fans are anxious to find out how the game has changed in two years. Hopefully, they'll get their update on the game's development this summer.
WWE 2K22 is currently in development.