WWE 2K17: Latest News and Buzz for Week of August 15
In a bold move, WWE 2K17 will trim down and remove a major element, instead focusing on bolstering the game elsewhere.
Fans wondering what part of wrestling history the 2K Showcase mode will feature this year need not wonder any longer. The latest WWE video game is skipping the signature feature. But fans may be appeased thanks to some key tweaks.
Ladder matches won't be as difficult to manage. Players can move the fight from the ring to the stands. And the roster continues to grow more robust, as a number of legends joined the official roster.
2K is banking that all that's enough to create a winning game, 2K Showcase or not.
New Features, Gameplay Changes
Executive producer Mark Little detailed some of the game's biggest changes on WWE.2K.com. The headline item from that list is the absence of the 2K Showcase mode.
"We designed and contemplated several Showcase ideas, including options surrounding our cover Superstar, Brock Lesnar, but all of them were not viable due to the many historic WWE Superstars needed but not available for inclusion in the game," Little wrote.
Steve Austin's career, famous rivalries and WrestleMania had previously been the centerpieces of this mode. It's surprising that 2K is not including one this time around, but it sounds as if the game as a whole will be better.
Players will now be able to fight in the crowd and backstage areas, per Little. In addition, there will be new animations, a new secondary submission system and an expanded creation suite.
A Create a Video feature will allow fans to create clips for the TitanTron. And something called the "Promo Engine" will, as Little noted, let "the WWE Superstars express their thoughts and emotions to the WWE Universe and one another."
Vince Ingenito of IGN played the game early and broke down some of WWE 2K17's most notable improvements.
During ladder matches, the ladder will set up properly under the hanging championship automatically. So no more matches where one adjusts the ladder 15 times before getting it in just the right spot.
Taunts will now serve a purpose, giving the wrestler a boost. Ingenito also noted 2K has tweaked the chain wrestling and submissions systems. For one, players are no longer forced to start out a match with a chain wrestling exchange.
A new rollout element will make Triple Threat and ladder matches less cluttered. After taking damage in multiwrestler matches, Superstars will roll out of the ring for a spell. One has to then decide whether to rest and recover outside the ring or hurry back into the action.
Ingenito wrote of the shift, "Finally, these matches have an ebb and flow that feels like the real thing and provides a layer of decision-making that just wasn't there previously."
Roster News, Notes
A slew of past marquee names joined the WWE 2K17 fray.
The latest partial reveal of the game's roster included a number of Hall of Famers and stars from a variety of eras. As WWE.com writer Matthew Artus noted, the following legends are now confirmed as playable characters:
- Andre the Giant
- Billy Gunn
- Bret Hart
- British Bulldog
- Edge
- Jake Roberts
- Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
- The Rock
British Bulldog last appeared in WWE '13. The rest of these wrestlers have been a steady presence in recent WWE video games.
From the NXT side of things, Hideo Itami is also officially part of WWE 2K17.
Summer Rae, who hasn't yet been confirmed for the game, revealed she will not only be on the roster, but that she was told her model would be improved:
The roster is certainly shaping up well, but it looks as if the final tally of wrestlers won't be as big as previously thought. On the 2K forum, community manager Bryan Vore announced the roster may not end up featuring 150 Superstars as promised:
"The 150 number was part of early development coding on our interactive map and is not representative of the final roster list. However, we can ensure the WWE 2K17 roster will be the largest to date and encourage you to continue checking out official roster reveals each week—as part of the Suplex City Census—on IGN.
"
As long as 2K doesn't leave out Bayley and Becky Lynch again this year, then anything remotely close to 150 wrestlers will be plenty.
Extra Points
Regardless of what may be floating around online, there has been no official word about WWE 2K17 coming to PC. As of now, the game is only available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One and Xbox 360, per the game's official website.
The WWE Games Twitter account clarified it has yet to reveal anything about a PC version:
Regardless of what consoles end up being home to WWE 2K17, WCW and WWE alum Scott Steiner wants to be involved.
The former tag team champion hasn't been part of the virtual roster in years. He clearly wants that to change. Steiner tweeted:
And a bit of hype for the video game didn't last long. Paul Heyman joined Lesnar's side as the two called out Goldberg in a Facebook video:
But the clip is no longer available. As PWInsider's Mike Johnson noted, "The video post was pulled from several Facebook pages related to WWE and 2K Games [Monday] afternoon."
Perhaps a new edit of the video is on the way. A Lesnar-Goldberg feud isn't a bad way to sell the game. Just as long as the virtual collision is more entertaining than their WrestleMania XX showdown.
