In the lead-up to WWE 2K26’s official release date on Friday, March 13, those who had Early Access to the game via its most expensive editions quickly crowned it one of the best wrestling video games since the bygone era of Smackdown vs. Raw on the PlayStation 2.
They also, for better or worse, quickly discovered that in order to obtain all the DLC content, there’d need to be some serious grinding. Because, unlike past games, which made use of a one-and-done Season Pass model, WWE 2K26 introduced the Ringside Pass concept, a tier-gated non-expiring program that forces players to grind for DLC that they technically already paid for.
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WWE 2K26 is delightfully violent in the most video game way possible.
Gamers quickly discovered a grinding method, one that involved making Eric Bischoff, an in-game manager character, tap out in 10 seconds after adjusting the in-game sliders was the fastest way to get the DLC characters they had already dropped cash on.
However, 2K works extremely quickly, and in a recent patch, has removed the exploit, going as far as to call it out in its patch notes.
“If a match is completed faster than 60 seconds, players will receive completion RXP, but not additional win bonuses. We know you’re enjoying making Eric Bischoff tap out, but let’s give poor ‘Eazy E’ a breather,” it wrote.
Now WWE fans are hitting back against a dev who called the exploit “circumventing the system.” Those fans argue that the system in place requires two things: either lots of your time to unlock everything or your money to purchase tier skips.
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Taking to social media, Brian Mazique, a developer on WWE 2K’s MyFaction and Live Event programs, made it clear that the method wasn’t one the company was willing to turn the other cheek toward.
That same method was popular among those grinding MyFaction, another heavy time sink mode that has additional roster members and goodies.
“Maybe don’t blame your player base for working around your s*** game design?” one user wrote on Reddit, where the post quickly went viral.
“People wouldn’t feel the need to do it if it didn’t feel like trying to unlock things in a F2P game, except it’s a game people already paid for, AND people paid extra for the content that you’re forcing them to grind to unlock like it’s a F2P game,” another wrote.
Others said the tone was enough for them to rethink their purchase.
Mazique further accused fans of wanting to “speedball” the game. That also didn’t go over well, and a game that entered the week with so much promise is now at the center of a heated debate over whether companies can police how players engage with the product that they paid for and are trying to obtain the goods that they spent money on.
- Released
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March 12, 2026
- ESRB
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Teen / Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items), Users Interact
- Developer(s)
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Visual Concepts
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