WWE 2K25 - Developer Q&A
After a dark period around the year 2019, the WWE games have been on the up with each title getting better and better at capturing the drama, athleticism and plain fun of Raw, Smackdown and all of the associated PPV events. WWE2k25 looks to continue that trend with a host of new features and additions that are sure to keep longtime fans happy. Recently I had the chance to sit down for a group Q&A with Lynell Jinks (Creative Director – Visual Concepts), Alan Flores (Design Director – Visual Concepts), Dino Zucconi (Designer – Visual Concepts) and Derek Donahue (Lead Combat Designer – Visual Concepts) and here is some of the exciting things I discovered during that chat.
Intergender Matches. Now is the time.
Intergender matches have been on the wishlist for fans for a while now and they are finally coming in 2K25. But there have been some roadblocks along the way that may surprise people. Lynell Jinks started with “Intergender matches are something we have been asking about for a few years now, but as we are a product of the live show and that is something that wasn’t happening we were politely told no.” he went on to say that WWE’s trust in their ability to go beyond what is on the weekly shows allowed them to take the step. “We built a trust with them and they began to realise that we could go beyond the programming and create a fun game in the WWE universe, so they said yes and we are super glad they did.”
There were however some technical hurdles to get over before they could make these matches a reality. “The big tech issue we were always conscious of was the height disparity. Having someone as tall as Andre the Giant versus someone the height of Alexa Bliss, that is a concern. We also have to make sure we are doing it in a professional way, for example, we don’t allow blood or bruising in intergender matches because we feel like that is probably bad form.”
Bringing the Drama
Drama is such an important part of the WWE experience but often the hardest thing to simulate in a video game environment. This year, to help amp up the drama, custom promos are back and they are giving players control of their narrative. “We wanted to bring promos back, they were in there years ago,” said Alan Flores. “In the past, they were in a limited form though, more of a mini-game. Now how it works is you’ll have a superstar who has a choice, for example, they can start the fight right now and not wait for an official match, call their opponent out for next week or even predict that they will submit their next opponent. There are a lot of dramatic moments we can now do using this new promo system that enhances the player experience.”
Dino Zucconi explained how the drama unfolds in the new Showcase mode that focuses on the long history of The Bloodline. “We have three different match types this year. It is no longer just recreating matches from he past, we still have that but this year we have some alternative history matches where players can explore these dream scenarios where historical losers get the win, for example, Reigns vs Rollins at Royal Rumble, players can take control of Rollins and get the win. Finally, we have some dream match scenarios where some of the legends from the Bloodlines go up against current members of the roster or historical rivals. We also took out the slingshot technology this year so in the showcase you aren’t being pulled out to watch a historical video, you are always in control.”
The Showcase is All About Family
Further on the showcase, I wanted to know if it was more difficult to design this year considering it was focusing on an entire family as opposed to a single wrestler or event. Dino didn’t seem to think so. “Having all these members actually made it easier. I didn’t want this showcase to be just the last five years. If we are going to do this very famous wrestling family, let’s get all of the family involved. Let’s teach some of our younger fans about some of these legends. We all know who Roman Reigns is but we should learn about Yokozuna as well. So I thought opening this up to the entire family was the right way to go.”
Lynell however has a different take ” Yeah it was easier for Dino,” he laughed “but the art team and the animation team who have to do all the moves and everything are cursing him. But seriously so much praise for our teams because it was a lot to ask for. You look at this year’s roster and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and remember we are doing this in a year so how are we going to pull this off? But we were able to so massive kudos to the whole team.”
The Overall Feel
The biggest impression that I got from this roundtable is that this is a team that really cares about the WWE. They are fans as well as developers and I could see that in their answers. It is very easy to forget about the people behind the game, especially with these annually released titles, so to have the chance to sit down and watch these keen and knowledgeable devs get excited talking about WWE 2K25 really helped to reset my thoughts on the whole thing.
I have always been a fan of the franchise, so seeing this passion has me even more excited to dive in again this year. There are some big swings coming in this year’s edition, including a recently announced community hub called The Island (think NBA 2K’s The City) so there is the chance that the team will fumble it, but after spending time with them, if that happens I know it wasn’t because of a lack of passion or skill.
WWE 2K25 is landing on consoles and PC on the 14th of March.
