Typically, WWE fans expect the next game in the WWE 2K franchise to be revealed around SummerSlam, but Visual Concepts and 2K Sports are changing things up for the upcoming WWE 2K22. Fans tuning in to WrestleMania 37 were treated to a brief teaser trailer for WWE 2K22 that offers the first look at gameplay, as well as confirms two current WWE superstars for the roster.
The WWE 2K22 trailer mainly focused on the character model for Rey Mysterio, showing that the new game is a significant visual upgrade when compared to the previous release, WWE 2K20. The level of detail is very impressive, and unless this teaser isn't representative of the final product, it wouldn't be a stretch at all to say that WWE 2K22 will be the best-looking WWE video game made to date.
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As far as gameplay goes, WrestleMania 37 viewers were able to see Rey Mysterio hit Cesaro with a 619, but not much else. While there wasn't a ton of gameplay on display, the trailer still showed that the animation in WWE 2K22 looks to be incredibly impressive, and so hopefully it will win back fans who were burned by the universally-panned WWE 2K20.
2K Sports and the team at Visual Concepts are aware of WWE 2K20's poor critical reception, and that's part of the reason why it is showcasing the new game so early. The development team wants to be more transparent with WWE 2K22's development than when compared to previous games in the series. They claim that the new game will be "completely different" and a step in the right direction. The brief footage seen show far is certainly encouraging, though fans will definitely need to see more before they can make any judgment calls.
The reaction to WWE 2K20 was so negative that the franchise took 2020 off for extra development time, and so far it seems to be paying off. The slogan this year is "It hits different" to emphasize that this won't be the same experience that fans were treated to with WWE 2K20, but again, it's far too early to tell if the new game will live up to expectations or not.
While WWE 2K22 is visually impressive, there could be issues with it that won't be known until it's actually in the hands of gamers. As some may recall, WWE 2K20 was plagued with glitches and other technical issues that played a large part in its negative reception. Hopefully the extra development time helps WWE 2K22 avoid a similar fate.
WWE 2K22 is in development for unspecified platforms.