WWE 2K19: Early Release Date and Ronda Rousey, Rey Mysterio Pre-Order Bonus

WWE 2K19 promises a breath of fresh air for the franchise in a multitude of ways. 

This is perhaps best exemplified with A.J. Styles on the cover—a guy 10 years ago most figured would never set foot in a WWE ring. 

The team at 2K Sports seems to have a running theme of reinvention here, looking at the new features and changes. This latest release launches on October 9, but players who upgrade to the Deluxe Edition or Wooooo! Edition (with Rick Flair on the cover) can get their hands on the game a few days early, October 5. 

Those who pre-order any version of the game will receive Rey Mysterio and Ronda Rousey as playable characters: 

It's understandable if fans want to get to playing early, though. 

As always, the official roster is massive and figures to see plenty of additions to match the real-life product as more DLC rolls out. 

More importantly, though, is an admitted new focus for the team at 2K Sports, which could have some interesting repercussions on the typical annual release. Here's what the game's creative director, Lynell Jinks, told Hardcore Gamer's Cory Wells: 

"All these things we wanted to do and think outside of the box that people have been used to. They kind of got turned off by the product we were giving them and we had to think outside the box and they never thought that we’d do it. The core was simulation, and people got turned off by that and we were hearing loud and clear that they weren’t buying it anymore and that was the driving force behind all of that.”

This seems to apply from everything to uncharacteristic things like a big-head mode to the gameplay itself, which promises more than 200 new strikes and a newfound focus on writing. 

A deeper dive into the writing realm will make its presence felt mostly with this year's Showcase mode, which makes its return after a one-year hiatus. The feature of the mode is perfect—Daniel Bryan. 

Everybody knows Bryan's story, and Jinks told IGN.com's Matt Fowler that the return of Showcase was one of their most-requested features, so linking up the requests with Bryan's story made too much sense. 

The newfound focus on storytelling will also make itself known in the ever-popular MyCareer arc, where a created character will climb the career ladder, starting in the indies and moving on up to WWE. For the first time, this mode will also feature voiced characters: 

This is a stark departure from the previous games, which were mostly filled with reading text and grinding out matches to earn points. It should go without saying, but this sounds like a major upgrade, as players will once again be free to dive into a rags-to-riches wrestling story. 

In the ring, outside of the new strikes, the biggest new feature might be the payback system. This functions exactly as it sounds and will let players build a meter over time that eventually lets them pull off those momentum-swinging moments that often unfold in real life. 

Keep in mind alongside quality-of-life updates in the graphical department and elsewhere, 2K Sports will also further flesh out its creation suite for the impressive community that spends time there, creating and sharing publicly for all to use. 

It all adds up to an ambitious feat pulled off by an annual sporting game powerhouse, so fans' sprinting to get it early makes plenty of sense. As the man on the cover might say, things sound phenomenal ahead of the game's early release on October 5.