A WWE 2K producer has shared what exactly goes into the often controversial, much-discussed rankings of playable characters.
Earlier this month, WWE 2K24 was released and has proven to be another hit in the series. Once more, the game features rankings for the Superstars, which often appear on WWE programming. These rankings are often heavily-discussed and during an interview with the Squared Circle Pit, WWE 2K24 producer Bryan Williams spoke about what goes into an in-game ranking.
For us on the design side, we're really big on character differentiation and making sure that when you select a character that they are of their appropriate hierarchy on the card. Not everybody can be a Roman Reigns. You have people that are at the tippety top of the card and then you have people that are not, but there's no slight on anybody.
Williams added that in contrast to previous years, WWE 2K24's ratings were determined much more on what sort of year a Superstar has had since the previous game's release.
We kind of take all that into account to see, did they hold championships? Were they winning more than they were losing? Are they consistently pushed?
Controversial Ratings
During the February 26, episode of WWE Raw, Michael Cole spoke about WWE 2K24. The veteran broadcaster said the character ratings in WWE 2K games are "always controversial."
Kurt Angle is in WWE 2K24 and many fans have been angered by his rating. The WWE Hall of Famer, Olympic Gold Medalist, King of the Ring, and World Champion has an 89 rating in the game. On social media, fans argued that this ranking was too low and pointed at Logan Paul's 90 rating as proof Angle should be higher.
A Very Real Controversy
Though fans often debate whether a Superstar should be ranked higher or lower than another, one Superstar this year sparked a controversy out of the confines of the ring. GUNTHER was given an 88 rating for WWE 2K24, which caused concerns among some fans.
88 is known as a Nazi dog whistle which allows Nazis to signal their beliefs to others covertly. A simple numeric alphabet code (A=1, B=2, etc) sees 88 translated into HH (Heil Hitler.) While WWE 2K did not address this directly, GUNTHER's rating was changed to an 89.
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