WWE 2K22 debuts at Wrestlemania with ‘it hits different’ tagline

2K Sports debuted the first trailer for WWE 2K22 at Wrestlemania this weekend.

The 30 second teaser showed significantly improved character detail and featured the tagline, “it hits different,” seemingly in attempt to emphasise the changes 2K is planning for this year’s game.

This year’s wrestling game will be the first WWE 2K title since the series skipped an annual release due to the disastrous launch of WWE 2K20.

WWE 2K20 was a disappointing full debut for developer Visual Concepts, resulting in one of the lowest Metacritic scores in 2K’s history, mostly due to a huge number of technical issues at release.

Last year, publisher 2K hired former Double Helix studio head Patrick Gilmore to take over WWE2K, as the game franchise attempted to enact a “renewed focus” on quality.

Participating in a Reddit Q&A last summer, Gilmore revealed the first details of his plans for 2021’s WWE game and told fans to expect “a significant evolution in gameplay with the next instalment.”

“Core gameplay is one of the major investments we’re making in the next instalment—one of six pillars we are focused on disproportionately in development,” he wrote.

“We are looking at much-loved previous games like No Mercy or Smackdown: Here Comes the Pain, along with top franchise instalments, and more modern wrestling and fighting games to build an all-new philosophical foundation for the game.