WWE 2K26 gets patch making Ringside Pass RXP easier to gain, but harder to exploit
Players have been farming quick matches to unlock battle pass tiers quicker
WWE 2K26 has received a new update which addresses the complaints players have been making about the speed of Ringside Pass progression.
This year’s entry in the long-running WWE 2K series adds the Ringside Pass, a battle pass system consisting of 40 free tiers and 40 premium tiers.
As in other games with similar systems, players earn experience – called RXP here – by playing through the game, and unlock new content as they reach each tier.
Some players have been complaining, however, that it takes too long to get through the tiers, especially given that the previous system involved buying DLC packs which gave players new wrestlers instantly.
To address this, the game received a version 1.04 patch today, which makes tweaks to the system to make it easier for players to earn RXP, while also nerfing an exploit players have been using.
Previously, players could only earn RXP in Play Now mode if they didn’t make any changes to the rules. Now this has been changed, with 2K saying “Custom Matches will now award RXP”.
The earn rate for matches has also increased by 20%, meaning you now get 30 RXP for completing a match (instead of 25) and 105 RXP for winning it (instead of 85) for a total of 135 instead of 110.
On paper, this means players who only play exhibition matches and don’t play other modes – which have RXP rewards which allow for much quicker progress through the Ringside Pass – will now have to play 238 matches to complete the pass, instead of 291.
Players who have been using a popular exploit will be upset to find it has been removed, however. Players were moving the gameplay sliders to make submissions more powerful, then playing 1v1 matches against Eric Bischoff (the weakest opponent in the game) and performing submission holds on him right away to win withing 15-20 seconds, earning 110 RXP each time. In this way it was possible to move up the Ringside Pass at a rate of one tier every 5-10 minutes.
2K has now nerfed this somewhat, stating that if a match is completed in less than 60 seconds, players will get the 30 RXP for playing the match, but not the 105 RXP for winning it.
The version 1.04 patch notes explicitly note that the farming method is the reason for the change, saying: “We know you’re enjoying making Eric Bischoff tap out but let’s give poor ‘Eazy E’ a breather.”
Further reading
Other patch notes include:
- Addressed reported concerns over earnable RXP
- Addressed reported concerns over Game Pass subscriptions being required to access The Island and MyFaction
- Addressed reported concerns over 2K account linking occasionally not working
- Addressed reported concerns with Dominik reward mask
- Addressed reported concerns of various attacks not working as intended
- Addressed reported concerns over performance issues when playing The Island
The version 1.04 patch is available now on Xbox Series X, PS5 and Steam, and will be coming to Switch 2 on March 30.
Following a week-long early access period which started on March 6, WWE 2K26‘s general release is on Friday, March 13.
VGC’s WWE 2K26 review says it “keeps its place at the Head of the Table but still isn’t Mr Perfect”, saying the changes to its reversal / stamina system may not be to everyone’s tastes, but that the overall package is a strong one regardless.
“WWE 2K26 offers another net gain over its predecessor, ensuring the series continues to evolve in a positive direction,” we wrote. “While its new reversal system will initially divide players and the spectre of microtransactions continues to loom over MyFaction, the overall package introduces more quality-of-life features to ensure each of its numerous modes is better than it was last time.”
