After the success of The City in NBA 2K games, it’s no surprise that 2K wanted to apply the concept to its wrestling series, but it’s fair to say that the rollout of The Island in WWE 2K25 was less than ideal. The overall response to the mode was negative, with fans having a laundry list of complaints about features that weren’t there, features that were but worked wrong, and features they didn’t think should have been there in the first place.
Here at Operation Sports, we looked at five things we thought 2K could do to improve The Island in WWE 2K26, and now that we are learning more about what to expect, there are some good signs. While PC-exclusion remains, the points geared toward gameplay and interactivity are largely addressed by the claims made about what to expect, and fans may be pleased with what is on offer if the game delivers on these claims.
What We Know About The Island In WWE 2K26
Now that we are so close to the game’s release next month, we’re beginning to get a clearer picture of what to expect when the final game releases. Here are the biggest changes being discussed for The Island in WWE 2K26:
- Factional Battles For The Island: The first major change is the move to a factional progression, with players choosing between three to join up with, each with their own WWE superstar at the top. The Order of Tradition is led by Cody Rhodes, The Order of Anarchy by CM Punk, and The Order of Shadows by Rhea Ripley. Who you join will dictate how your story on The Island plays out.
- More But Still Limited Customization: Customization remains one of the big positives the series has to offer, and The Island will allow for more customization than before. There are still limits to the amount of customization, however, not allowing for full sandbox-level customization like you can get in other modes.
- Full Cutscenes And Spoken Dialog For Story Progression: Players complained that last year’s Island experience felt flat, with simple text-based story dialog a contributing factor. In 2K26, the mode should be more engrossing as it will now feature cutscenes and voiced dialogue throughout the story process to make for an engaging progression through the mode.
- Co-Op PvP Battle Options: The ability to team up with a friend online will be a new feature for The Island this time around. This mode only extends to PvP battles with other pairings of gamers, as there is no co-op integration into the story progression, but it creates a fun new way to play with your Island wrestler.
- Quest Markers Help You Navigate a Bigger Island: The overall size of the map for The Island will be increasing with WWE 2K26, with more for players to visit and interact with. While a positive development, navigation in the mode was a problem for some gamers last year, so there is also good news on that front. Markers can now be used to highlight where you need to go next and navigate more easily without getting turned around and lost.
- Microtransactions Are Less Powerful Initially: If there’s one criticism you’re sure to hear from any fan of a modern 2K game in any series, it’s about the developer’s extreme devotion to virtual currency. A breakdown from The Pro Wrestling Shoot’s hands-on with the mode noted that you can’t immediately buy virtual currency and boost your wrestler to 100, with an 85 being the limit getting started. Conversely, it is also speculated that a large reason behind the restriction in customization is to push you into spending the licensed items for the wrestler creator.
- The Scrapyard Adds a Dynamic New Arena: Wrestling fans love it when the action spills outside of the ring, with some of the most iconic matches in history being mostly or entirely outside of the ropes. Matches without ringouts often also have other rules relaxation, and The Scrapyard will lean into this with an environment designed to be overflowing with ways to interact with the scenery in meaningful ways during a bout, getting vertical on structures or attacking with breakable objects.
2K is promising a lot of changes for The Island, but is it enough to get you excited to give it a try? Does it sound like enough is being done to improve the mode, and do you trust the game to deliver on those improvements, or are you expecting 2K26 to be another year of growing pains for the still new mode?
