After a long, suspenseful wait following the announcement that 2K Games would be separating with long-running WWE game developer Yuke’s, fans have finally been given a debut WWE 2K20 gameplay trailer less than three weeks ahead of its release. Titled “Let Me In” in reference to preorder bonus character Bray “The Fiend” Wyatt, mechanically it looks as though the switch to Visual Concepts as the developer hasn’t had much of an impact, but creatively things have certainly taken a turn for the weird.
The professional wrestling audience are no strangers to the bizarre, what with a woman giving birth to a severed adult hand and people having been “buried alive” on global television, but even then, things are turned up a notch here. We see a wrestling ring surrounded by a moat of lava in which two demonic Superstars do battle amidst spitting geysers, Brothers of Destruction Undertake and Kane—otherwise known as Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs (really)—duking it out while surrounded by flames, and what appears to be a zombified Sasha Banks taunting an unseen adversary in a cemetery.
All of the above strangeness is likely to come as part of the appropriately Halloween-themed “Bump in the Night” content pack that comes bundled with all preorders for the game, though it’ll also be available for individual purchase to those who pick up their copy post-launch.
Back in the real world, predictably the trailer places cover stars Becky Lynch (the first woman to grace a WWE 2K cover) and Roman Reigns front and center. The two can be seen battling their current on-screen rivals, though lovers of nostalgia might be more excited to see a few of this year’s roster of Legends. These past Superstars include The Rock, Sting, Goldberg, Chyna, Hulk Hogan, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and X-Pac.
There isn’t too long to wait before you can virtually pit these wrestlers against one another (and listen to the licensed soundtrack at the same time), with WWE 2K20 scheduled to launch on PS4, PC, and Xbox One on October 22, 2019.
