Publisher 2k Games and developer Visual Concepts brings its WWE video game series back into the spotlight with WWE 2K22 following a brief hiatus from its annual release cycle. Taking cues from the reception of its previous release in the series, Visual Concepts has redesigned the game's engine, optimizing what's under the hood in an effort to bring out the best version of its WWE game from both a visual and a gameplay perspective. The gameplay, visuals, and physics of WWE 2K22 weren't the only things that received notable changes, however, as the added year of development allowed the teams at 2K Games and Visual Concepts to bring in several new modes, including a long-requested mode making its return in a new form.
Alongside the MyFaction Mode as well as the rebranded MyRise and the returning Showcase, WWE 2K22 brings a newly refurbished GM Mode to the mix named MyGM. MyGM gives players the opportunity to go head-to-head with an opposing brand, either controlled by the CPU or another player via local multiplayer, over the length of a season to determine which show is the best. Screen Rant was granted the opportunity to try the upcoming title through a virtual Hands-On focused on the MyGM Mode. This time with the upcoming title provided insight in what MyGM Mode brings, what it lacks, and, ultimately, what potentially makes the new mode so replayable.
At the start of MyGM, players are given a choice of several General Managers from WWE's programming as well as the option to create a custom GM. After selecting the GM, the player can then customize the experience by setting the AI's brand and GM as well as choosing the length of the season to be 15, 25, or 50 weeks total - with the final week set at Wrestlemania, according to Art Producer Christina Diem Pham. Players can then enter the Draft with either WWE 2K22's decided Draft Pool or a customized pool.
How WWE 2K22's MyGM Mode Works
WWE 2K22's Draft requires 8 rounds of back-and-forth drafting, with every round afterwards being an extra round so long as the player maintains their budget to hire more superstars. Once the Draft is completed, the player is then tasked with choosing their starting World Champions for the men and the women as the rest of the roster and Legends go into free agency. The remaining money becomes the show's budget as MyGM Mode opens up in earnest. Every week, players can book their brand's show of up to three matches and two promos while managing their superstars' Stamina to ensure they don't get burned out and injured. Through the course of WWE 2K22's MyGM Mode, players will also receive texts from WWE legend and current acting COO Triple H to keep them informed of the show's progress as well as providing tips regarding how to better manage booking shows.
An aspect of WWE 2K22's MyGM Mode that separates it from any other is the way matches are rated. Factors such as the venue, the pyrotechnics and production, the good guy/bad guy dynamic at play, and even the promotion of the show affect the general rating and quality of the event in a feature influenced by other booking sim titles, according to Creative Director Lynell Jinks. Booking a match between two stalwarts can result in the match being rated poorly due to these factors, an unfortunate reality during the Hands-On play session that forced a course correction regarding the booking of one of those performers. This change of booking strategy was aided by the use of WWE 2K22's Power Cards.
WWE 2K22's Power Cards & How To Use Them
Power Cards in WWE 2K22 act as modifiers and abilities that the player can use either to their own benefit or to the opposing brand's detriment, with cards allowing the player to do things such as shorten injury recovery time, increase a star's popularity, or even force the opposing brand to book the following week's card without their top star. The GM chosen at the start also comes with a unique, one-use Power Card that can effectively turn the tide. In order to salvage the booking faux pas earlier, we were able to use a Power Card that allowed us to hire a Legend out of the Free Agent pool for free. This gave us the room to shuffle the card around the following week to build one wrestler toward a new direction while sending our Universal Champion Finn Balor up against Eddie Guerrero in a dream feud to build to our first PPV.
WWE 2K22's Power Cards can be purchased using the show's budget or can be earned by fulfilling Commissioner Goals assigned by Triple H. These goals act as booking challenges for the player, which can sometimes overlap with preexisting plans, further forcing players to adapt to earn extra Power Cards. To add, players will also receive messages from superstars, varying from special requests to form tag-teams to superstars wanting to jump ship from the other show at a discounted price due to being mistreated. In one interesting scenario, Eddie Guerrero went on to become the WWE Universal Champion for our SmackDown brand the week his contract was set to expire, but because Guerrero's morale with the brand was high, he negotiated to stay on the brand at a lower cost than normal.
WWE 2K22: Wrestler Rivalries & Managing Your Budget
Rivalries are another major factor in the perception of a match in WWE 2K22, as rivalries can grow up to Level 4 through repeated matches and promos. Even if the opening matches of a feud don't land correctly with the crowd, letting it play out can potentially result in feuds exploding. This happened twice during our Hands-On time, with one feud eventually resulting in our only perfect 5-Star rated match in the entire playthrough, with Asuka defending her Women's Championship in a PPV Main Event inside Hell in a Cell. Watching a rivalry blossom and grow into its later stages is incredibly satisfying, but budgeting finance and superstar health are also just as vital in being the best brand.
The budget of a show matters for everything, including the cost of match types and certain kinds of promos, making it a balancing act between putting on the best show and putting on a fiscally responsible program on the way to the upcoming PPV. More bombastic match types are also both more expensive on the budget and more taxing on the superstars themselves, resulting in stars needing to miss weeks before risking injury due to the toll of particular match types. This becomes especially risky when certain stars in WWE 2K22 are noted to be experts at specific match types, creating the temptation to go to the well with their specialty match at the risk of their well-being and resulting in side-tracking the booking once again.
Using WWE 2K22's Roster To Your Advantage
The ways in which WWE 2K22 nudges a player to pivot from their original plans is balanced well enough to seem like a soft shove rather than hard road-blocks. With a properly balanced roster, players cam still find ways to create booking magic as well. After each week, players see a full report of costs, revenue, fans gained/lost, and a social media feed that informs the players of what fans thought of the card. Feedback includes things such as a favored match type, if rivalries are building up well, and even if tag-teams have particular chemistry or if the pacing of the card was amiss, providing players a solid guide on what to do and how to keep things flowing without railroading and forcing a player's hand in a particular direction.
Despite how stuffed to the brim WWE 2K22's MyGM mode is, a notable omission exists with the secondary and tag-team titles. Lynell Jinks spoke about the "massive undertaking it was to even get the mode off the ground", and in its current state, MyGM Mode is a satisfying, highly-replayable return of an old fan-favorite mode. The numerous variables in the mode and the satisfying interface make it easy to find reasons to return, making the exclusions, while still sorely missed, feel like an understandable consequence for a more streamlined mode of play while maintaining a sense of freedom. While it is hopeful to see those addressed in future versions of this mode, WWE 2K22's MyGM looks to make a fantastic first impression with its simple interface and intuitive booking, placing the power in the player's hands.
WWE 2K22 launches on March 11th, 2022, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Screen Rant was provided with a digital code to play MyGM Mode for the purposes of this hands-on preview.