WWE 2K26 interview and deep dive with Universe and Creation Suite updates

This year’s new WWE wrestling game is less than a month away now, as we talk to the developers at Visual Concepts about the Universe and Creation Suite modes.

We’ve already brought you a full breakdown of what to expect from this year’s new WWE game. with ragdoll physics, a move away from last gen hardware, and CM Punk’s Showcase mode.

With a few weeks to go, we had a chance to chat exclusively to senior designer Cristo Kyriazis and designer Cornell Gunter in a deep dive for the Universe mode and Creation Suite.

Both features are getting some key upgrades this year, from the WWE Draft to double the amount of Create-a-Superstar slots. ‘This is probably the most exciting, bubbling time for us, where players start to see things that they’ve asked for potentially make it into the game, or new features they didn’t know we were working on,’ Cornell told us.

WWE 2K26 Universe mode preview

Universe is the franchise’s sandbox mode, offering near enough total freedom to create your own wrestling world.

Whether you’re playing as one superstar, to follow (and dictate) their career, or creating a roster of stars from the 1990s to craft your own rivalries, the possibilities are endless.

The key update this year is the introduction of the Draft, which will let players shake things up at either a pre-set point, or any time of their choosing, as a customisable ‘week long event’.

Mirroring real life, the draft will involve two brands (like Raw or SmackDown) with their own customisable general managers, while there will be a third ‘optional supplemental show to bolster the draft pool’ to reflect NXT superstars being called up.

‘You’ll have these dedicated tiles on the match card for a round. You’ll see the GMs Adam Pearce and Nick Aldis walk onto the stage, they’ll take up their podiums,’ Cristo explained, while the draft picks can also be customised.

As well as ‘rules for what superstars could be drafted’ and how tag teams are handled, you can also set the number of rounds, rules for champions and more, to let players leave their mark on the mode.

If that all sounds a bit much, Universe Wizard is here to help, which Cristo describes as an attempt to ‘try and ease’ players into what can be a ‘daunting’ process of starting a new game, whether that’s in Classic or Superstar mode.

The feature will let you easily set up everything from major shows and premium live events to rosters, championships, custom shows, and more from a ‘streamlined menu’.

Also new this year is the Watch Show feature, which does exactly what it says on the tin.

‘The little intro movie for the show will run and go straight into the match entrances, and play out the matches,’ Cristo explained. ‘Once that one’s done, if it’s possible, we try to just flow seamlessly into the next match and try to cut down as many load screens as possible.’

The goal is to create a ‘broadcast experience’ which has been made possible by dropping last gen console supoort, while players will still be able to ‘jump in at different points’ and take control if they suddenly want to play out the matches.

Despite the broadcast focus of the Watch Show feature, Cristo noted that cut scenes will work ‘similarly to previous years’, meaning some segments (like promos and brawls) won’t necessarily feature a full entrance.

‘There are some sacrifices we had to make to make this run the way it does, unfortunately,’ Cristo admitted. ‘But I feel like this is just the start of how we want to look at this.’

Similarly, rivalries will still be two-on-two or singles, while promos themselves will have ‘the exact same flow’ as last year, which means no subtitles or voiceovers besides the commentators describing the action in a more vague way.

However, there are more promo types, including post-match winner interviews involving Cathy Kelley, after standard one-on-one matches, which count as a rivalry action with different several options based on standing in championship rankings.

Now, you’ll be able to make a challenge, calling out a number one contender or even the champion, which can lead to stare-downs, handshakes and brawls.

Money In The Bank has also been given a shakeup this year, with cash-ins now able to be triggered spontaneously in the middle of a match, rather than almost premeditated by players in advance.

‘When you have a one-on-one title match happening, we have a new prompt that shows up during the match that you can press a couple buttons and we’ll queue up the cash-in when the moment’s right and it just happens,’ Cristo explained.

He also highlighted other upgrades this year, including ‘a slew of new options for customising matchmaking parameters’, and adjustments to match tables, which will make all-women’s PLEs, like Evolution, possible.

WWE 2K26 Creation Suite preview

This year, WWE 2K26 is aiming to give fans even greater control over their own creations, whether that’s out of this world characters, or wrestlers not in the game.

Superstar slots have been doubled from 100 to 200, while image slots have gone from 1,000 to 2,000.

The team has already announced deeper body and face morphing tools to enhance the entire process, along with two-tone hair blending.

‘We’ve seen hairstyles like on Naomi and Zelina and other WWE talent, but maybe you have a direct, sharp line in the middle,’ Cornell explained. ‘But you can intertwine colours in-between your braids, and even do it on facial hair.’

There are also upgrades to Create-An-Arena, including ‘LED barricade support’, as well as ‘more customisation options for announce tables, ring aprons, ring mats and barricades’, while Create-An-Entrance has a boost in the form of an ‘advanced timeline motion’ enabled for everything from champ and double-champ entrances to quad or quint-stables.

Cornell also promised an expansion for Create-a-Championship and Money In The Bank, including making the former ‘feel a lot smoother’, which is the goal across the board.

‘We spent a lot of time really going through everything, making sure everything is tight, making sure everything is crisp, clean,’ Cornell added.

One disappointment for fans this year is the reiteration that the PC and Nintendo Switch versions will each be their own thing, with the ‘current gen consoles aligned within itself’, meaning no shared Community Creations between those platforms.

However, it sounds like the newly introduced Ringside Pass will have a huge benefit across all game modes.

‘Outside of DLC superstars, there’s going to be a lot of content. I don’t want to reveal too much,’ Cornell laughed. ‘But there’ll definitely be certain things that are beneficial for the create community, and you can take the Personas that you are able to unlock into Universe so everything within the Ringside Pass is very, very compatible with every single mode completely throughout the game.’

‘We did a lot of groundwork to be able to start really becoming innovative in the future,’ Cornell also teased. ‘Right now, that sentence might not mean anything, but in the future, though, [you’ll] be able to see what I mean.’

Formats: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC
Price: £69.99
Publisher: 2K
Developer: Visual Concepts
Release Date: 13th March 2026*
Age Rating: 16

*The King of Kings, Attitude Era, and Monday Night Wars editions allow early access from 6th March

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter.

To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.

For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.

Comments


Add as preferred source