WWE 2K24 40 Years of Wrestlemania

WWE 2K24 is a sports simulation wrestling game developed by Visual Concepts, and the 40 Years of WrestleMania Edition is its top-tier SKU - the one that ships with the Nightmare Family character pack (Stardust, Undashing Cody Rhodes, Dusty Rhodes 1976, and Superstar Billy Graham), all five DLC content packs via the season pass, Gold MyFaction cards, and alternate WrestleMania attires for Triple H, Randy Savage, Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, and Rey Mysterio based on their most iconic WrestleMania appearances. It also unlocks the entire 2K Showcase roster from the start rather than making you grind for Bret Hart and The Ultimate Warrior. That sounds like a lot, and it is - but the value equation matters, because most of these additions are things that arrive piecemeal as DLC anyway. The core of what you are buying is the best-playing WWE 2K game since Visual Concepts rebooted the series in 2022. The in-ring engine is fluid, grappling chains feel more connected than in prior years, and the new Super Finisher system - which lets you burn all three stored finisher charges at once for a devastating single move - adds a satisfying tactical wrinkle to close-match moments. New match types include Casket, Ambulance, Gauntlet, and Special Guest Referee bouts, each adding mini-game elements and positioning puzzles that break up the standard pin-and-submit loop. Backstage Brawl now supports four players and gained throwable environmental objects, from sodas to trash cans. It is genuinely fun chaos, and the kind of feature that makes the game worth loading up with friends even outside a dedicated session. The headline selling point of this edition is the 2K Showcase of the Immortals, a curated run through 21 matches across WrestleMania history using Visual Concepts' Slingshot Tech to blend archive footage with in-engine gameplay. Covering moments from Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage at WrestleMania III through to Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39, it is a solid nostalgia trip if you are a WWE lifer. The critical caveat: reviewers and players broadly agree the mode falls short of what WWE 2K14 did with its own WrestleMania showcase - fewer matches, whole events skipped, and in-match cutscenes that interrupt momentum rather than reward it. Casual fans will enjoy the ride. Hardcore historians will feel the gaps. MyRise career mode ships with two storylines this year - Undisputed (men's) and Unleashed (women's) - and both lean into self-referential, over-the-top WWE storytelling that fits the franchise well. MyGM received incremental upgrades including talent scouting, permanent production upgrades, and trade offers between brands. Universe Mode, the long-running sandbox for fantasy booking weekly shows and feuds, is largely the same as last year, which is a fair complaint but not a dealbreaker given how deep its feature set already is. The creation suite remains an absurdly deep tool, and the shared community content is full of lovingly recreated wrestlers from NJPW, AEW, TNA, and beyond - which adds effectively limitless replay value if you are willing to browse. One important note for online players: the multiplayer servers for WWE 2K24 were shut down in March 2026, meaning ranked QuickPlay, Faction Wars, and online Royal Rumble no longer function. If online modes were a pillar of your purchase reasoning, factor that in. The single-player and local multiplayer content remains fully intact. Steam reception sits at roughly 73 percent positive across nearly 4,000 reviews - respectable for the series, though down from WWE 2K23's higher watermark. Metacritic critic scores landed around 81 out of 100. This is a game that incrementally improves a solid formula, earns its place as the franchise's most content-complete release, but does not reinvent the wheel. If you are coming in fresh or returning after years away, this edition gives you everything in one package with no unlock grind. If you played 2K23 heavily, the gaps will feel smaller than the premium price suggests. Diego, Scout Team