Ahead of its official reveal at Saturday's Royal Rumble Premium Live Event (PLE) on Friday, January 30, it has been revealed by the ESRB that when WWE 2K26 launches, it will do so on every platform except PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
2K's flagship wrestling simulator has been on the hardware since 2K15, and unlike its PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 counterparts, which featured 2K17, PS4 and Xbox One users got support through last year's WWE 2K25.
The discovery, first spotted by Insider Gaming, lists PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 as consoles for the title. It wasn't until the release of Switch 2 last year that 2K returned to Nintendo's platform, as it had previously taken a hiatus following the highly criticized and lackluster port of 2K18 to the original Switch console.
Leaving last-gen consoles for the first time in a decade, the WWE 2K franchise will become the latest annual series to leave its last-gen roots behind, likely lasting longer than anyone thought after the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2020.
Hey 2K, copy how Fortnite does microtransactions and stop wasting my time
I'd give WWE 2K25 my money. Why is it so difficult?
Already, EA's UFC series and Madden franchise, 2K's own PGA Tour series, F1 and Sony's MLB The Show have left consoles recently or for some time.
With WWE 2K also out, that leaves the NBA 2K franchise and EA's FC franchise as the two biggest stragglers. Call of Duty released Black Ops 7 on last-gen hardware, while the return of Battlefield with Battlefield 6 is up against it.
It's unlikely that any of these three, especially EA Sports FC, will leave last-gen behind for good anytime soon. When it was still FIFA, the PS3 got FIFA 19, and the PS2 got FIFA 14. Which means there is history and examples.
If annual franchises are skipping last-gen, some games are being ported back
Late last year, it was announced that Marvel Rivals was going back to the PS4. That decision by NetEase coincided with several other live-service titles ending support for older hardware, including PUBG and Genshin Impact, two of the most popular titles around.
It's not just a live-service title, with both Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Hogwarts Legacy announcing PS4 and Xbox One copies after the original releases were decidedly “current-gen only.”
Given that the PS6 may be slower than previously reported, and that gamers have recently been pushed to upgrade from the original PS4 to the PS5, we may be seeing this phenomenon for a while.
The failure of the Highguard does not matter much
Highguard has become a talking point for gaming artistry, rather than just a generic shooter that isn't as good as Apex Legends.
