WWE 2K25

As a pretty huge wrestling fan who watches anything and everything wrestling-related, I was pretty pumped to give WWE 2K25 a go and review it. Despite not having experienced the last one or two installments, my familiarity with the prior WWE 2K games is pretty high, having sunk countless hours into Universe Mode and downloading hundreds of Community Creations. There is much more of the same here, but better!

WWE 2K25 continues the long-running wrestling video game series, developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. This latest entry improves on existing mechanics, introduces new gameplay mechanics, modes, and an updated Showcase. This time, it centered around The Bloodline Dynasty. While next-gen console players get exclusive access to the newly hyped “The Island”, PC and Steam Deck users still get a pretty fantastic experience packed full of customization, engaging game modes, and tons of replayability. 

Before diving into the new mechanics and game modes, it’s worth highlighting early on that WWE 2K25 has surpassed my initial expectations of how great this game looks on the Steam Deck and how it performs. It is incredible! More on that further below…

Reeling through the new mechanics, we have the addition of a free, third-person camera mode that offers greater freedom to be the cameraman and get some pretty cool angles during entrances, and in the midst of the action. Turning this on allows free camera movement with the right stick. The typical right-stick commands, like pinning or picking up opponents, would then require holding RT alongside them - not the biggest change, so it's worth playing around with. This is especially useful in the more chaotic matches, where you can use this to help see what your Superstar is doing, as it can get a little hard to focus on timing your reversals and actions right.

One of the things I have always loved about these games is the sheer variety of game modes that they include to appease all types of fans. There is quite literally something for everyone here, and while I doubt many will be in love with every facet of WWE 2K25, I’m sure there will be one or two that you low-key become obsessed with. 

Chain wrestling makes a welcome return, further refining the technical grappling aspects of the game. This is usually triggered by Superstars who have the technical ability, and you’ll be thrown into a mini-game where you will select your grapple action and try to beat your opponent in finding the right angle to focus your stick on to get the upper hand. We also have the return of intergender wrestling, where men and women can wrestle each other! But unlike previous installments, if you’re in a mixed-tag scenario, the men and women can just go at it, without the need to force a tag!

MyFaction remains a highly addictive game mode where players collect wrestler cards from the past and present to form a faction of four male and four female superstars. Different card tiers introduce unique stats, forcing players to adapt to various match stipulations and rulings, continually needing to grow their collection. Outside of the online play, which I have never gotten along with on WWE games, there is plenty to do.

World Tour is a new area in MyFaction, where you travel across themed cities across the world and complete specific tasks to earn rewards and new cards. For example, Philadelphia, the home of ECW, features more extreme match types, and Rob Van Dam can be found here. We also have Faction Wars, a gauntlet-style mode where your health doesn’t reset after each match and you face progressively tougher "Boss Factions," and Weekly Towers, which offer simpler objectives compared to other modes, providing a unique card once complete. 

While microtransactions are present and extremely tempting early on, grinding through MyFaction mode without spending any real money is possible and can be rewarding. My favorite part of this mode is the ability to create unique tag teams and use Superstars you would see or dream of using anywhere else! What would you even call a tag team of Solo Sikoa and Jake “The Snake” Roberts!?

MyGM also returns with its biggest update in a while, introducing online multiplayer. Beyond this, the mode feels similar to past iterations, balancing your booking decisions with frustrating restrictions. MyGM is probably my least favorite area to sink my time into. The mode just feels very light and restrictive. However, I guess that is part of the challenge, and it is still a welcome mode that I am sure others adore. It just isn’t for me.

If you want a freer and more sandbox-style fantasy booking sim, Universe mode is where it’s at. Again, very much the same as last year, you can fantasy book to your heart's content, pushing and burying whoever you wish to, completely overhaul the WWE schedule and weekly shows, add/remove titles, and bring legends back. Essentially, book and play your way, crafting whatever stories you want. It doesn’t provide any of the required strategizing or rulings set in MyGM, it just serves as the ultimate space for your storytelling.

We then have MyRise, which is WWE 2K25’s career mode, and lets you take your custom superstar from Indie Darling to future Hall of Famer. While the story here is never anything special and usually a little silly, it’s still fun and not too long-winded to play through. Your dialogue choices impact small areas of the story’s direction, which leads to different outcomes, and more importantly, different rewards. Rewards include things such as different arenas, outfits, and clothing options, as well as past superstars (such as Scott Steiner, and Alundra Blayze) and earlier versions of current stars (like 2017 Rhea Ripley, 2012 John Cena, and even Cody Rhodes’ Stardust!).

There are also a bunch of MyRise-exclusive characters you meet on your journey who are also unlockable and can then be used in other modes. These rewards are incentives to play through and complete this mode. The only downside is that some of the rewards can only be obtained after a second playthrough.

The final mode that has been a staple in past years is Showcase Mode, and this time around, we go through The Bloodline Dynasty. All those familiar with the Anoa’i family and The Rock’s lineage know that this family has been ever present in WWE, but it feels so much larger when you work your way through the stories told here. What I love about this mode is the integration with real-life moments you get to replay, alongside the ability to rewrite history like helping Umaga become WWE Champion, Tamina, or having Yokozuna annihilate Hulk Hogan. All of these matches are woven between each other thanks to the narration of Paul Heyman who does an incredible job sucking you into each match's story, while also teaching a nice little nugget of WWE history each time.

Every scenario you are thrown into has a long ol’ list of mini-objectives and one or two timed objectives to complete during the matches. Completing all will typically unlock the superstars involved, the legacy arena, and the title involved, too. However, the timed ones were incredibly annoying to complete at times. It's almost as if the AI knew that I had 30 seconds to get them outside the ring and hit two heavy attacks because they just suddenly decided to become a reversal king and keep running away!

If you just want to dive into a Royal Rumble, an Elimination Chamber, or take part in Bloodline Rules, you can do so in the quick play mode. One of my favorite new match types for this year is the Underground Rules match. Here, the ropes have been ripped off, and there is a crowd of onlookers surrounding the ring. The objective? Win by submission or knockout. I’ve sunk plenty of time here, mostly putting legacy titles on the line and trying out some wrestlers that fit the “underground” vibe. Rezar has been my go-to.

There is a Performance Center that walks players through the basics, and it also provides you with in-game currency as you progress through it, allowing you to get a start. The game is pretty easy to pick up anyway, with adjustable difficulty levels.

As touched on earlier, online matches can be fun, but I had a lot of trouble with lag, which seems to be a known issue for some, and certain players have learned to manipulate it to their advantage. This is very annoying when you come across this, and is one of the main reasons I tend to keep WWE 2K25 as a mostly offline experience personally. With the exception of Community Creations, which has some great custom wrestlers based on real athletes, and helps keep the game feeling fresh.

The game looks incredible, the character models are crisp, the lighting and animations exceed my initial expectations, and overall, I am so impressed by how great everything looks. Wrestler entrances, facial expressions, fluid movement, enhanced commentary, and crowd noises enhance your gameplay experience and bring an elevated level of realism to the WWE 2K25.

There will naturally be a slight bias here, given that I am an existing fan of the franchise and sport, and just love playing these games, but I believe that WWE 2K25 is great. Of course, it is that much more special if you are a fan and familiar with the company and stars, but even as a neutral, there is a lot of fun here to be had, balancing realism and simulation with an enjoyable match engine and modes, tons of customization, plenty to grind for and unlock, and flexibility and the variety of ways to play is more than enough to keep you occupied and coming back for more and more. 

WWE 2K25 - Steam Deck Performance

Controls are mapped well, with no need for any tinkering at all, load times are surprisingly quick, and there is little to no interruption when going from match to match in all modes. There is a lot to love here in terms of performance. 

On the Steam Deck, WWE 2K25 runs beautifully. It maintains a solid 60FPS frame rate, with more chaotic matches dipping to around 57-59FPS, but this is not noticeable in the slightest. By default, the quality is set to medium, but you can whack that on high with no dips in performance at all. That is the same for all other areas of the in-game settings. You can max it all out without worrying about any performance dips if you wish to.

The only option that wasn't turned to max was the sharpness when using Dynamic Upscaling. I found that setting the sharpness in the graphics setting to 6 hit the sweet spot for character models, with any less looking poor, and any higher, not looking as clean as it did on 6. But that was my own personal preference, and if you think it looks fine on 10, go for it! You'll still get a buttery smooth performance.

Testing the Benchmarking in-game, throws itself into a chaotic, eight-man Hell in a Cell match with lots and lots of moving parts, with the results only proving what has been shared here, with an average of 59.6FPS, meaning that Visual Concepts has done a great job optimizing this for the Steam Deck. I turned off FSR to see if we could hit a consistent 60FPS in benchmark mode, but it seems to have made no difference from a quality or performance perspective. My recommendation is to leave it on, but you can go either way. One thing I noticed was that cut scenes tend to default to 30FPS, even when amending the in-game settings to 60FPS… maybe a bug, or something, but nothing to really sweat over as they still look great.

The only area that prevents WWE 2K25 from being a “Best on Deck’ game is the battery performance. I found that if you are going from match to match, which you likely will be, the battery won’t last very long. The expected life span is between 1.5 to 3 hours, with the latter half being where more time is spent in menus or modes like Universe or MyGM doing the “admin” stuff. But if you are like me, and grinding match after match in MyFaction, that battery life is going to drain fast…

I tried to extend the battery life a bit by lowering the frame rate, but I noticed that gameplay dramatically slowed down. It did provide an extra half an hour or so of estimated battery life, but with everything moving slower, you are probably going to lose that half hour waiting for the referee to count to three!

In all honesty, though, I can’t complain at all. WWE 2K25 looks and runs amazingly. It seems that the "out of the box" settings are the (only) way to go. WWE 2K25 will be a mainstay on my Steam Deck. Until 2K26 is out, that is. 

Accessibility

WWE 2K25 includes a few accessibility-related options within its ‘Extras’ section. You can adjust the difficulty, add subtitles to all areas of the game (besides in-match commentary), fully customize the control layout in-game, and choose from one of two mini-games when using submission moves and pinning. One being a button mash, and the other a more precise method. However, some of these mini-games have a default option in events like Showcase mode and MyFaction, which cannot be amended and therefore may not be suitable for some players.

Conclusion

While “The Island” may be missing for us PC and Steam Deck folk, WWE 2K25 still delivers an outstanding experience, packed with content for all types of fans. Whether you thrive on the competitive grind of MyFaction, enjoy the creative freedom of Universe Mode, or just want to jump into quick matches with your favorite superstars, there’s no shortage of ways to play. The game excels in customization, variety, and replayability, with impressive gameplay, visuals, and performance, especially on the Steam Deck, making it one of the strongest entries in recent years.

That said, the game isn’t perfect. Online play still suffers from frustrating lag issues, and MyGM, while improved in some areas, remains restrictive and the weakest, least complete part of WWE 2K25. Battery life on the Steam Deck is also something to keep in mind if you’re planning long play sessions on the go. But these are all minor gripes in what is otherwise a (Dwayne “The) Rock”-solid wrestling game that blends realism with arcade-y fun in all the right ways.

If you’re a longtime WWE 2K player, I reckon you’ll find plenty of refinements and new additions to keep things fresh. If you’re new to the series, this is one of the best jumping-in points in years. It’s not perfect, but with its deep customization, stacked game modes, and rock-solid gameplay, WWE 2K25 delivers an entertaining and addictive experience.

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

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