For many, WWE 2K20 is a blight on the franchise record best disregarded and completely forgotten about, as WWE 2K20 released in a completely broken state, but that doesn't mean WWE 2K23 and future games haven't benefited from that. Indeed, because of its shortcomings, the franchise took a year off, went back to basics, and came back with WWE 2K22, which was much better received by fans. It serves as a great building block, not just for WWE 2K23 but for future games in the franchise too.
However, there is one thing that WWE 2K20 did that set it apart from every 2KXX stylized game that came before it and, so far, after it. It put two stars on the cover, Roman Reigns and Becky Lynch. It was the first mainline game to feature multiple cover stars since WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, and it was the first to feature a female performer on the cover since Torrie Wilson appeared on WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 (alongside Triple H, Rey Mysterio, John Cena, and Batista). There are a few benefits and options if future games after WWE 2K23 would shine the light on more than one superstar at a time.
WWE 2K Games Need More Cover Stars for Better Representation
While John Cena is certainly a welcomed cover star for WWE 2K23, it is the ninth cover he's been on out of 24 games, including as the sole cover star for WWE 2K15. In fact, a couple of superstars have appeared on multiple game covers, including WWE 2K22's Rey Mysterio. Meanwhile, Roman Reigns has been one of the most applauded superstars of the past few years, and he's only appeared once, on WWE 2K20. There's little doubt that names and faces help sell copies of these games, but if anything, that seems like a call for more representation. That, at the same time, is not to say WWE 2K should go back to the days when Smackdown vs. Raw would feature 5-6 superstars, but doing reasonably more could bode well for the franchise.
One could perhaps argue that the cover star benefits from the WWE 2K Showcase mode, limiting the selection, but that's only half-true. Seeing the cover star in the Showcase mode is somewhat expected, but not every cover star has to be limited to this, either. Yes, John Cena and Rey Mysterio are the focus of their perspective Showcase modes, but the WWE 2K20 Showcase focused on Lynch and the Four Horsewomen—Roman Reigns played no special role in the game outside of appearing on the cover. Indeed, for John Cena's Showcase mode, fans don't even play him but the opponents he lost to. This shows how Visual Concepts is willing to experiment with established game modes and the like, and multiple cover stars would benefit that as well.
How Future WWE 2K Games Could Work In More Cover Stars
While more cover stars would be a good thing, there is certainly a limit, meaning it should never be more than two or three. Loading the cover with superstars takes away that special feel all WWE 2K cover stars deserve to have, but working with two or three gives some obvious avenues for implementation and experimentation. For example, if Visual Concepts wanted to put a male and female performer on the cover again, that still easily works. Perhaps one superstar would be like Becky Lynch and feature heavily in the Showcase mode, while the other could perhaps have some influence in the MyRise Mode as a tutor for the players or a big goal.
If Visual Concepts went with three superstars, this could easily still work. Perhaps there could be two parallel Showcases where players take on two rivals, ending with a face-off between the two. As an example, it could feature commentary from The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar focusing on both superstar's growth before Lesnar broke The Undertaker's Wrestlemania streak, or it could go through the history of Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins' back-and-forth as early allies but later sworn enemies. Meanwhile, the third character could take on that mentor or rival role in MyRise, but the inverse could also be true. One superstar could be the focus of the Showcase mode, while two other superstars played some role in the narratives presented in MyRise.
The three, if done this way, wouldn't even have to be on the cover at the same time. In the past, WWE games have had special editions that had different cover stars, and doing that more in the future would once again use more faces and names to sell copies. And however it was done, it would raise the bar for the WWE 2K Showcase mode, the MyRise mode, and more, however they were all worked in. John Cena's Showcase shows how experimentation there could be fun, while including bigger names in MyRise mode could naturally help give players better storylines for their characters.
WWE 2K20 may not have hit the heights fans wanted it to, but its lows saw WWE 2K come back even stronger. Therefore, it may be worth revisiting its high point in future iterations of the franchise.
WWE 2K23 launches March 17 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.