Ahead of its official reveal on Friday, January 30, ahead of Saturday's Royal Rumble Premium Live Event (PLE), it has been revealed by the ESRB that when WWE 2K26 launches, it will do so on all platforms 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 received support through 2K17, PS4 and Xbox One users have had support through last year's WWE 2K25.
The leak, 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 Switch 2 was released last year that 2K returned to Nintendo's platform, having previously taken a hiatus following the much-criticized and lackluster port of 2K18 on the original Switch console.
Skipping last-gen consoles for the first time in a decade, the WWE 2K series will be the latest annual series to leave its last-gen roots behind, often sticking around longer than anyone could have predicted after the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S 2020 launches.
Hey 2K, just copy how Fortnite does microtransactions and stop wasting my time
I want to give WWE 2K25 my money. Why is it so difficult?
Already, EA's UFC series and Madden series, 2K's own PGA Tour series, F1 and Sony's MLB The Show have left the consoles behind either recently or for some time now.
With WWE 2K also out, that leaves the NBA 2K franchise and EA's FC franchise as two of the biggest laggards. Call of Duty released Black Ops 7 on last-gen hardware, while Battlefield's return via Battlefield 6 chose not to.
It's unlikely that any of this trio, especially EA Sports FC, will be leaving last-gen behind for good anytime soon. When it was still FIFA, the PS3 got FIFA 19 and the PS2 got FIFA 14. That said, there is history and precedent there.
Although annual franchises disappear from the last generation, some games are backported
Late last year it was announced that Marvel Rivals would be returning to PS4. That decision by NetEase coincided with several other live service titles ending their support for older hardware, including PUBG and Genshin Impact, two of the most popular titles.
It's not just live service titles, as both Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Hogwarts Legacy announced PS4 and Xbox One copies after the original releases were ruled “current-gen only.”
Given that the PS6 may be delayed longer than originally reported, and gamers recently forced to finally upgrade to a PS5 from an original PS4, we may see this phenomenon for a while.
Highguard's failure shouldn't matter that much
Highguard has become a talking point for game artists, instead of just a generic shooter that isn't as good as Apex Legends.
