WWE 2K22

WWE 2K's MyCareer was rebranded as MyRISE and focused on separate stories for both male and female wrestlers. Using created characters, players can form alliances, make enemies, and branch into subplots based upon the players choices. This game did see the removal of the Advance Entrance option when creating a superstars custom entrance, instead leaving the only option to Easy Entrance.

, for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship to his Payback 2020 matchup with his son, Dominik Mysterio, against Seth Rollins and Murphy in a tag team match. The Showcase mode incorporates new features and updates. By progressing through, players are able to unlock new characters, attires, and arenas. At IGN Fan Fest 2022, a gameplay of the match between Rey Mysterio and Dolph Ziggler at SummerSlam 2009 featured a transition method between in-game to real-time action, with the referee's face being blurred, using both Greg Hamilton's recordings as the ring announcer in-game and archived audio, unlike in previous games, where the commentary has been re-recorded and archived audio is used in certain points during in-game cutscenes.

After the overwhelming negative reception of WWE 2K20 from critics, as well as major technical issues in gameplay, WWE 2K franchise executive producer Patrick Gilmore promised that the next installment would rely more on the quality of the game. As a result, a follow-up, WWE 2K21, was canceled with a spin-off, WWE 2K Battlegrounds, instead released in 2020. WWE 2K22 was officially announced after a teaser trailer, featuring Cesaro and Rey Mysterio, aired during WrestleMania 37 in April 2021, with a "It Hits Different" tagline. The announcement came nearly a year after the cancellation of WWE 2K21.

During the July 23, 2021, episode of SmackDown, commentator Michael Cole revealed that WWE 2K22 would feature a rebuilt game engine and smoother controls; this was later confirmed by sources close to 2K. The second teaser trailer aired during SummerSlam in August 2021, announcing a release date of March 2022.

WWE 2K22 received "generally favorable reviews" for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S versions and "mixed or average reviews" for the Windows version according to review aggregator Metacritic respectively. Critics generally regarded 2K22 as a massive improvement from its predecessor as well as one of the series' best modern entries despite its issues.

Zoey Handley of Destructoid praised the new modes and improvements made to the game engine, modified physics, and AI but felt that "On the surface, we're looking at exactly the same game... WWE 2K22 is an improvement, it doesn't feel like a step in the right direction", and criticized the game's unintuitive customization suit, janky gameplay, and desire to remain a competitive simulation. Marcus Stewart of Game Informer called 2K22 "the most entertaining — and most of all, playable — WWE game in some time", and lauded its more polished, arcade-style gameplay, improved character models, smoother animations, and new modes, while taking minor issue with unstable online play, occasionally unresponsive controls, and some overly complicated maneuvers. Richard Wakeling of GameSpot thought favorably of the revamped in-ring action, increased defensive options, and the MyRISE mode but disliked the frustrating multi-person matches, shallow MyGM mode, and the roster omissions present in the Showcase mode.