2K Games gave fans their first look at WWE 2K22 in a brief gameplay trailer during last night’s WrestleMania pay-per-view event. The long-running grappling simulator series took a year-long hiatus in 2020 due to the disastrous reception of WWE 2K20, which featured an unbelievable number of game-breaking bugs and glitches after the departure of previous developer Yuke’s.
Instead of the previously planned WWE 2K21, 2K released WWE 2K Battlegrounds, an arcade-style fighting game featuring cartoonish versions of both current and former WWE Superstars in exaggerated combat. However, reception to both this and the mobile-based WWE Undefeated have been lukewarm at best, leaving fans of a more serious, simulation-style wrestling experience wondering when 2K is going to announce its next main title - with the word on the street suggesting that WWE 2K22 would be shown off at this year’s WrestleMania.
Sure enough, IGN reports that 2K Games gave viewers who tuned in to the first night of WrestleMania on Saturday a brief look at the future of its WWE series in the form of a short gameplay trailer for WWE 2K22. This 30-second spot opens with longtime WWE veteran Rey Mysterio putting on his iconic mask in a dark room, before cutting to his in-game model delivering his classic 619 finishing move to Cesaro in early-build gameplay footage. The trailer finally ends with a shot of the WWE 2K22 logo and the tagline “It Hits Different,” suggesting that this new release will be better than 2K20. So far, no release date has been revealed.
Last night’s WrestleMania event, which is only the first half of a weekend-long showcase that will conclude on Sunday, featured plenty of buzz-worthy action for fans of the Squared Circle. The New Day (featuring new G4 host Xavier Woods) faced off against AJ Styles & Omos for the Raw Tag Team Championship, Sasha Banks (who recently had a guest role in Season 2 of The Mandalorian) battled Bianca Belair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, and rapper Bad Bunny turned heads in a Tag Team Match with Damian Priest against The Miz and John Morrison.
However, for fans of WWE’s long series of wrestling games, the short trailer for WWE 2K22 was a serious talking point of WrestleMania, especially given rival wrestling federation AEW, which is looking to start its own game series in the near future. So far, the new game's graphics look impressive, but only time will tell how well 2K is able to improve its gameplay in the wake of 2K20’s disastrous release two years ago. Should WWE 2K22 learn from the mistakes of that previous title, however, WWE might once again be a contender in the world of wrestling simulators.
Source: IGN, IGN (Youtube)