It's no secret that WWE 2K20 was a disaster. WWE 2K20 earned scathing reviews at the time of its release, with many labeling it as possibly the worst WWE video game ever made. The WWE 2K20 backlash was so severe that 2K Sports decided to put the franchise on ice for a year, skipping WWE 2K21 and giving the developers at Visual Concepts a little more time to work on the next game, WWE 2K22.
WWE 2K22 was revealed a few months ago at WrestleMania 37 with a brief trailer that showed Rey Mysterio and Cesaro battling it out in the ring. While the footage was brief, it was crisply animated and visually impressive, giving fans some hope that WWE 2K22 will help get the franchise back on track. And now a new report should give those looking forward to WWE 2K22 even more hope about the new game.
Forbes' Brian Mazique recently discussed WWE 2K22, claiming sources have informed him that the gameplay footage of the latest build is currently looking "fantastic." Mazique noted that these sources are "somewhat close to 2K" and so the praise should be taken with a grain of salt, but it should still be taken as good news. Mazique added that WWE 2K22 is apparently using a "completely rebuilt" engine as well, which hopefully means it will be able to avoid some of the pitfalls suffered by WWE 2K20.
Mazique also touched on WWE 2K22's controls, suggesting that they are "much cleaner" than previous iterations. He added, "[...] this feels like a wrestling fan's wrestling game." Again, fans should take this glowing approval of WWE 2K22 with a grain of salt, but if the reports are accurate, it seems professional wrestling fans have a lot to look forward to when the game releases later this year.
If these reports about WWE 2K22's development progress are accurate, it seems the developers weren't kidding about learning from WWE 2K20's mistakes. And if WWE 2K22 truly is a "wrestling fan's wrestling game," it seems they weren't kidding about the game taking inspiration from WWF No Mercy and SmackDown: Here Comes the Pain, two of the most beloved pro wrestling video games produced to date.
Hopefully WWE 2K22 is able to back up this report soon with a gameplay presentation. SummerSlam has traditionally played host to WWE video game reveals, and so it's possible that SummerSlam 2021 on Saturday, August 21 will have some fresh WWE 2K22 footage for fans to check out, though that remains to be seen. Those looking forward to the game might want to tune in just in case.
WWE 2K22 is in development for release later this year.
Source: VGC