When news of WWE 2K22 being delayed until March 2022 hit, the emotions from fans ranged from frustrated to understanding. Once the dust settled of the delay, more information about the changed plans started to come out, including post-launch DLC for WWE 2K22.
Originally, the first DLC package was set to be based around former NXT North American champion Bronson Reed. Unfortunately, when he was let go, along with a number of other NXT superstars, DLC plans for WWE 2K22 were blown up.
SGO was told that of a minimum of four released superstars from August 6 were slated to be DLC for the upcoming game. Though names weren’t disclosed, looking at some of the names that were let go — Mercedes Martinez, Bronson Reed, Tyler Rust, Leon Ruff, and more — it’s easy to figure out some of the expected names.
With the releases, the development team at Visual Concepts along with publisher 2K Sports was left scrambling for DLC plans. I was told that at least two DLC packages were scraped over the last four months.
While there hasn’t been anything to signal what the new plans are going to be, one rumor that I’ve heard is DLC being scrapped altogether in the traditional sense. Instead of standard packages, 2K Sports has talked of moving to a “service” of sorts for roster updates.
Think of it as roster updates for traditional sports games. When elements such as new or updated gimmicks are introduced for WWE superstars, Visual Concepts will release the updates via standard title updates throughout the game’s lifecycle. Should a new superstar debut during the lifecycle of WWE 2K22, 2K Sports wants to build good will by releasing new superstars free as they are completed. Again, this is just a rumor I’ve been floated, but it was worth mentioning here because of how drastic of a change of course it would be.
Sources around the team that works with WWE games didn’t want to talk about any concrete WWE 2K22 DLC plans just yet. One simply said, “we are working on things”.