I’ve been playing WWE games for a long time, and I’ve never seen monetization this aggressive in any game I’ve played. This year with WWE 2K26, it honestly feels like things have gone way too far.

I paid $150 expecting the complete experience, which is usually what the premium editions of these games are supposed to give you. Normally, if you pay that much, you’re expecting to jump in and have access to the roster, arenas, championships, and just start having fun.

Instead, when I launched the game, I realized most of the roster is locked. I’m not exaggerating when I say it feels like around 75% of the characters aren’t accessible right away. I haven’t even really started playing matches yet because so much content is gated behind grinding or more purchases.

Then there’s the Season Pass, which costs about $77 if you want everything in it. What makes it worse is that some of the characters in that pass are already part of the game. After paying $150, being asked to pay even more just to unlock content that’s already there feels ridiculous.

One of the biggest problems is how the game treats Universe Mode. That mode has always been one of the best parts of WWE games because it lets you run your own shows and create your own wrestling world. But this year it feels like the game is actively pushing players away from it. You can’t even really progress through the season pass while playing Universe mode, which basically forces you to grind other modes just to unlock things.

That completely defeats the purpose of what these games are supposed to be.

WWE games have always worked best as a sandbox. People want to create dream matches, build their own shows, and recreate different eras of wrestling. But this year so much of that experience is locked behind grinding systems and monetization.

It’s especially frustrating when the game is promoting things like the Monday Night War era and classic content, but you can’t even properly use a lot of it in Universe mode unless you unlock it through all these systems first.

Players shouldn’t have to turn themselves into part-time grinders just to access content in a game that already costs $150.

The worst part is that the season pass system is time-limited, meaning it resets and pressures you to keep playing constantly. That kind of system might work in a competitive live service game, but it feels completely wrong for a wrestling game where most people just want to jump in and have fun with the roster.

People have jobs, school, and real lives. Not everyone has time to grind endlessly just to unlock content that should already be available.

What makes this so disappointing is that the WWE 2K series was starting to rebuild trust with fans over the last few years. But decisions like this risk undoing all of that.

If this is the direction 2K wants to take WWE games in the future, they’re going to lose a lot of longtime fans.

Because right now, this doesn’t feel like a wrestling sandbox anymore.

It feels like a grind.

One of the most baffling decisions in WWE 2K26 is the introduction of a battle pass system in a full-priced wrestling game. This is a title that already asks players to pay premium prices for its higher editions. In my case, I purchased the most expensive edition of the game, specifically to ensure I had access to all of my favorite superstars icons like Triple H and The Rock without worrying about missing content.

Naturally, I expected that level of investment to provide a complete experience.
Instead, what I found was quite the opposite.

After launching the game, I discovered that a specific version of a superstar I wanted to play as was locked behind the battle pass progression system. Technically, it’s not a direct paywall, but functionally, it might as well be. To unlock that character naturally, players are required to grind through dozens of tiers, which could easily take hundreds of hours of gameplay. Alternatively, the game offers tier skips at $2 per tier.

In my case, the character I wanted sat roughly 40 tiers away, meaning the only way to unlock them immediately would be to spend an additional $50 on tier skips after already paying $150 for the game itself. That kind of monetization structure feels deeply frustrating, especially in a sports entertainment title that traditionally thrives on letting players jump in and immediately play as their favorite wrestlers.

Unfortunately, the battle pass doesn’t stop at locking characters.

A wide range of cosmetic and customization elements ,things that used to be freely available in past entries are now tied to progression tiers. This includes superstar taunts, signature jackets, and various customization assets that players historically used to personalize their characters. Locking these behind a battle pass in a wrestling game feels like an unnecessary barrier to creativity and player expression.

Even putting the battle pass aside, the progression system itself feels unnecessarily restrictive.

For example, I played a standard one-on-one match between Triple H and The Undertaker. Before starting the match, I made a minor adjustment to the match setup: I simply added an extra ladder under the ring. That was the only change. I didn’t alter the AI difficulty, didn’t modify gameplay sliders, and didn’t adjust any settings that would make the match easier.

Yet because the match had a custom modifier, the game refused to award any XP at all.

That match lasted over 20 minutes, and by the end of it I received zero progression. Twenty minutes of gameplay effectively counted for nothing simply because I made a harmless match customization.

That kind of system fundamentally misunderstands what makes a WWE game enjoyable. At its core, this series has always been about jumping in, picking your favorite superstars, playing a few matches, and having fun. Players shouldn’t feel punished for experimenting with match setups or customizing the experience.

To be clear, locking certain rewards behind modes like MyFaction or MyRise would be completely understandable. Those are dedicated progression modes, and earning characters or cosmetics through them makes sense.

But placing superstars, taunts, moves, and customization items behind a battle pass in a fully priced WWE game feels excessive and out of place. It adds unnecessary grind to a genre that has traditionally been about accessibility and instant fun.


TLDR :
Wrestling games are supposed to let fans live out dream matches with their favorite legends. Instead, WWE 2K26 turns that fantasy into a monetized obstacle course, where iconic superstars, taunts, and gear are drip-fed through a battle pass designed to waste your time or drain your wallet. Charging $150 for "GET ALL THE SUPERSTARS" edition upfront and then designing the game like a free-to-play grind with even more paid tier skips is pure corporate greed.

EDIT 2 : (For the Dev response) :

While I appreciate the fact that the developers responded and attempted to make adjustments, the core issue still remains unresolved. The recent changes do not fundamentally address what players are actually frustrated about.

The central problem is not simply the XP rate. The problem is that many of these items should never have been locked behind a battle pass progression system in the first place.

A WWE game is supposed to be about jumping in and having fun. If I want to start a quick custom match and play as Hulk Hogan, that should be possible immediately, especially in a game that already costs a premium price. Instead, that experience is gated behind hours of grinding simply to unlock a character that should already be accessible.

Even basic cosmetic elements are unnecessarily restricted. For example, I wanted to equip a Stone Cold Steve Austin jacket for my custom character in MyRise. In previous WWE titles, this kind of customization was part of the fun. Players could freely mix and match iconic gear to create their own wrestler.

In WWE 2K26, however, that jacket is locked behind the battle pass. The only way to obtain it is by grinding through hours of gameplay progression just to unlock a single cosmetic item.

That is the fundamental issue.

(Again I'd like to reiterate the fact that , I don't mind The island, Myrise, My faction stuff being EXCLUSIVE , But gatekeeping core items that we already paid the most premium price for , that's greedy.)

It isn’t enjoyable to spend hours grinding simply to unlock basic customization pieces or legendary wrestlers that fans already expected to have access to. The experience starts to feel less like a wrestling game designed for fun, and more like a progression system designed to artificially extend playtime.

Until the core philosophy behind these unlock systems changes,

𝙖𝙙𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙓𝙋 𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢.

Players aren’t frustrated because progression is slow, they’re frustrated because so much basic content is locked behind progression to begin with.

I never rarely leave reviews and only do for truly great games but this game needed one for the opposite reasons.

Game has many steps forward as far as gameplay and new features for certain modes

however the greed for money is so apparent its insane.

I bought the $150 edition and to actually get the content I have to play over 100+ matches.

Which makes it even less fun because I cant even play the 100+ matches with the characters I want after paying $150 due to them being locked behind a battle pass.

This would be like madden locking active players like rookies and or major free agents behind a battle pass especially after paying $150.

Of course you can by pass the battle pass by paying roughly $80 to skip to level 40 (max level) and with 5 or 6 season you pay $400 to avoid having to play 500 plus matches to max out.

and the craziest part is if I go to universe mode to make the matches have meaning there's incidents where there's no xp at all

I have never left a bad review that I can remember btw.